Preliminary hearings are scheduled for today in Indiana County’s District Courts, including one for an Indiana man charged with assault, harassment and theft for a series of incidents in White Township in September.
District Judge Guy Haberl’s court will hold the hearings for 46-year-old Harold Lee Filler, Jr. of Homer City today. He faces two felony counts of attempted theft, and single felony counts of burglary and criminal trespassing, along with three misdemeanor counts of theft, and a summary criminal mischief count in one case, and felony charges of burglary, theft ,and trespassing along with summary criminal mischief in a second case. Both cases date back to September 18th, when police say Filler allegedly broke into the offices of IPA motors at 9:00 in the morning, stealing a lock box, cash, vehicle keys and gift cards. He also forced his way into the Renaissance Stylists on Oakland avenue and took $300 out of a cash register. Police also say that he went to the home of a 34-year-old Indiana woman on South Third Street and it’s believed that he assaulted the woman but he does not face assault charges. Police found clothes that they had seen in surveillance videos at the woman’s home, and a stolen vehicle was also found there which belonged to the dealership.
He has been in Indiana County Jail in lieu of a combined $55,000 cash bail. The hearing is set for 10:30.
Another preliminary hearing at Judge Haberl’s courtroom will be for an Elmora man who was charged in connection with a drug bust last November.
Kenneth Polites, Jr. faces four felony counts of manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and of drug paraphernalia and vehicle interlock violation, along with summary violations connected with a traffic stop on November 9th of 2017. Homer City police department pulled over Polites on Route 119 and officers found 24 grams of suspected fentanyl powder, 41 stamp bags of suspected fentanyl, 81 grams of suspected cocaine, 20 grams of suspected crack cocaine, and 41 Clonazepam pills along with $2000 in cash. The State Attorney General’s office had assisted with the investigation into this drug bust.
Polites also faces a felony charge of manufacture with intent to deliver and a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia possession charge for an incident that happened on October 25th of last year.
He has been in Indiana County Jail in lieu of a combined $300,000 unsecured bond. The hearings are set for 10:00 this morning. Today marks the fifth time that the court will try to have a preliminary hearing.
