Two illegals accused of stealing, crashing Jeep

By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Two illegal immigrants are accused of stealing a vehicle from Hillegass Farm in Stonycreek, Somerset County, then crashing it in Brothersvalley, state police said.

Feliciano Alvarez, 22, and Eleazer Alvarez, 21, who have been residing in Brothersvalley, took a 1996 Jeep Cherokee owned by Janeen Cochran, 45, of Berlin, at about 11 p.m. Monday and went to Berlin to buy beer and pizza, said Somerset state police Trooper Don Szarmach.

The men got lost and crashed the vehicle into a tree along MacDonaldton Road at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, causing severe damage to the vehicle's front-end, Szarmach said.

Police found the pair waiting for a ride at Coalfield Mini-Market on Main Street in Berlin and saw one of them had a head injury, Szarmach said.

Eleazer Alvarez was taken to Somerset Hospital for treatment, Szarmach said. He was later released into state police custody.

Szarmach said the men, who were found to be from Mexico, were arrested and the Bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was notified. They were arraigned on charges of theft of a motor vehicle before Somerset District Judge Arthur Cook and placed in Somerset County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond apiece.

The federal agency will take custody of the suspects after a preliminary hearing Sept. 1, Szarmach said.

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