Men in Break-In Say They Were Househunting in Palmer

Two men have been charged with breaking into a Palmer Township house they said they were trying to buy.

And just like in the song by the Beatles, one of them came in through the bathroom window.

Steven John Truncale, 51, of 9 Concord Court, Forks Township – the man police say came in through the bathroom window – and David Michael Makuta Jr., 31, of 1239 Spruce St., Easton, are charged with conspiracy to commit criminal trespass and criminal trespass in connection with the Thursday night incident.

Truncale is also charged with possessing an instrument of crime – a crowbar.

Court records include the following details:

Police were tipped off about activity in the home on the 2900 block of Norton Avenue not by the homeowner, who is not identified, but by a man who lives nearby.

The man told a 911 dispatcher two men broke into the house and were now inside. He later told police he saw two vehicles in the home’s driveway and two men, later identified as Truncale and Makuta, get out of the vehicles and approach the home. He said Truncale had a flashlight and what appeared to be a crowbar.

Two officers arrived at the home shortly after 7 p.m. and saw “flashlight movement” inside. The vehicles were a silver Pontiac G6 owned to Truncale and a green Ford Escape owned by Makuta’s wife.

Police also saw a window-style air conditioner pulled out of a bathroom window and lying on the ground.

They saw the men leaving and eventually took them into custody. Truncale, interviewed by a Forks detective, said he and Makuta agreed to meet at the Norton Avenue house. He said they were trying to buy it.

Truncale, who is 6-feet-1 and 200 pounds, admitted pulling the air conditioner from the bathroom window and entering the home. He unlocked the front door so that Makuta, who is 5-feet-7 and 165 pounds, could enter.

Truncale allowed police to search his Pontiac. They found a crowbar on the passenger side front floor.

The men were arraigned at 5am Friday by on-duty District Judge Diane Marakovits of Northampton and committed to Northampton County Prison after each failed to post $7,500 bail.

Conditions of release state that the men cannot enter the Norton Avenue home unless they are with the property’s real estate agent.