Pair plead in vehicle thefts

DUSTIN HARVEY

BY ROBERT L. BAKER

A pair of men entered multiple guilty pleas for their role in a crime spree that riddled Susquehanna County much of last summer.

Dustin G. Harvey, 24, of South Montrose and formerly of Tunkhannock, and David E. Goodbred, 22, of Dimock, appeared before Judge Kenneth Seamans Thursday and entered pleas of burglary, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.

Goodbred also entered a guilty plea for hindering the apprehension and prosecution of a criminal for his role in an Aug. 3 incident in which he literally harbored Harvey at a residence but told police he hadn’t seen him.

Law enforcement officials believe the two men were involved with a third man – court papers identify as Daryl I. Cook, 26, of Montrose – in a vehicle

theft ring that involved items taken in Susquehanna County and which were intended to be subsequently sold or exchanged in the southern tier of New York for drugs or cash.

Harvey’s pleas were wrapped up in charges stemming from nine different incidents between May 29 and July 30, and included the heist of all-terrain vehicles, money, alcoholic beverages, a motorcycle, TV, VCR, sludge pump, firearms and even a Saturn sedan.

He remains in the Susquehanna County jail on $250,000 bail.

Judge Seamans said Harvey faced a maximum sentence on all charges of 63 years in jail and $115,000 in fines.

Goodbred’s pleas showed he was in on five of the incidents Harvey faced charges on, along with three others of his own, which also included the theft of an Arctic Cat snowmobile.

Judge Seamans said Goodbred faced a maximum sentence on all charges of 50 years in jail and $105,000 in fines.

Goodbred remains in the Susquehanna County jail on $100,000 bail.

Both are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 27.

Law enforcement got a break in the cases on July 26, according to a criminal complaint, when State Police Trooper John Oliver was doing a routine check of an ATV driven by a 15-year-old who said he was test driving it because he was considering purchasing it.

A check of the ATV’s vehicle identification number by Oliver revealed that the vehicle had been stolen out of Tunkhannock.

Further investigation led Oliver to Goodbred’s home on Bare Valley Road in Dimock Township where Oliver observed multiple ATVs and other vehicles.

VIN checks revealed two stolen ATVs, a stolen Saturn and a stolen Honda motorcycle.

According to the complaint, Goodbred said about the vehicles, that he did not even know they were on his property.

He said the ATVs had been purchased a few years earlier and he did not know they were stolen.

Susquehanna County District Attorney Jason Legg said Thursday afternoon that Cook apparently left the area prior to Christmas – violation of his bail- and a warrant for his arrest had been issued.

Legg said Cook was apprehended in California in recent days and extradition for his return to Pennsylvania was in process.

Susquehanna County court documents show that Cook faces four felony counts of theft by unlawful taking, four felony counts of receiving stolen property, two felony counts of burglary, and individual misdemeanor counts of theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and making a false report in connection with five incidents last summer.