Two Oil City men are facing misdemeanor charges of theft and loitering for taking a central air conditioning unit from a construction site.
Oil City police said in a criminal complaint that on Aug. 21, an anonymous caller said two men, later identified as Brandon Metz, 26, and Richard Cottrell, 49, were wheeling a “large piece of equipment” from a construction site in the 200 block of Emerald Street.
When police arrived, the caller pointed them in the direction of 217 Spruce St. where Metz was fixing a bike tire, the complaint said.
The complaint said police found wheel tracks coming from the construction site which ended near one of the two garages on the Spruce Street property.
Police found a tarp between the two garages on the property that the homeowner said should have been covering his tractor, and upon looking under the tarp police found the air conditioner, the complaint said.
The Spruce Street homeowner brought Cottrell out after officers asked if anyone else was at the residence, and Cottrell admitted he and Metz took the air conditioner but had planned to “ask permission in the morning when the construction crew arrived,” the complaint said.
Cottrell and Metz are both facing misdemeanor counts of theft by unlawful taking-movable property and loitering and prowling at night.
Their preliminary hearings are scheduled Sept. 27 in Venango County Central Court.
