Three accused of running Bullskin chop shop

The owner of a Bullskin Township garage and recycling center and two others have been accused of running a chop shop.

Rodney Francis Allen, 61, of 336 Breakneck Road, Connellsville; Dale Robert Naugle, 27, of 145 Bellview Road, Connellsville; and Joshua Allen DeWitt, 26, of 324 Ogden St., Connellsville, were charged on Thursday at District Judge Ronald Haggerty's office with owning, operating and conducting a chop shop.

The charges stem from an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Western Regional Auto Theft Task Force after a 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck was stolen between March 1 and 3, 2011, from the rear lot of Davies Ford.

Police executed a search warrant at a garage owned by Allen, located at 169 Bellview Road, Connellsville, where they located the stolen truck, which had been stripped of parts.

The parts were later recovered on the property of Allen's Garage/B&R Recycling at 145 Bellview Road and were being used to repair a 2008 Ford F-150 pickup.

Allen provided to police an invoice indicating that he purchased the Ford from Salvage Direct, a vehicle auction business. He said he purchased the parts about three days prior from another business and had receipts for them.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Allen told police that he recalled purchasing the parts from "an unknown tall guy with no teeth" and that he "kind of had an idea they were stolen."

The investigators viewed the video surveillance system in the scale house and office of Allen's Garage/B&R Recycling that showed a white tilt bed being used to transport the stolen truck on the evening of March 3, 2011.

Naugle was interviewed by investigators and admitted that he took the Ford truck from Davies Ford at the direction of Allen, who's Naugle's boss. He said he used Allen's flatbed truck to off-load the truck at the garage at 169 Bellview Road. Naugle admitted that he and Allen dismantled the stolen truck while Allen's nephew, DeWitt, was present.

Naugle said he used another truck belonging to Allen to haul the truck parts to the other garage.

A preliminary hearing has been set for all three men at 1 p.m. Thursday at Haggerty's office.

All three men are free on $10,000 unsecured bond.