Trio charged in suburban burglaries

Sometimes, they'd do it up to three times a day. Once, they allegedly did it in a former state trooper's house. They even did it on the day one man's mother died, according to court documents.

Between Labor Day and shortly after New Year's Day, police said, three men, including a father-son duo at times, broke into 72 homes in secluded areas of Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery and Chester counties, stealing about $500,000 worth of possessions and cash.

John Cartlidge Sr., 41, of Akron, Lancaster County, and Thomas Crossley, 38, of Upper Darby, allegedly committed the daytime break-ins, in part to fuel heroin addictions, court documents said. But Cartlidge also hit up his son, John Cartlidge Jr., 21, of Clifton Heights, also an admitted heroin addict, to participate in five of the burglaries, according to the arrest affidavits.

"My understanding is that Junior was basically doing some bonding with Dad on five of these," said State Police Capt. David Young, commanding officer of Troop K, Philadelphia.

Investigators said the men would target houses that bordered wooded areas between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays, when residents were at work.

One man would act as a driver while the other would knock on the door, Young said.

If no one answered, the intruder would break through a door or window and ransack the house, using a pillow case from the house to carry the booty, police said.

Valuables and mementos were stolen, including guns, guitars, electronics, jewelry, signed football jerseys, tickets to the Phillies 1964 World Series, movies, Christmas gifts and prescription drugs, according to court documents.

Most of the items were sold to pawn shops or traded to drug dealers for heroin, Young said.

If someone answered the door when they knocked, the men would pretend they were asking permission to hunt on nearby wooded land, court documents said.

The robbers sometimes hit up to three houses in one day.

On three occasions, they broke in before the robbery victims had a chance to answer the door.

Crossley was so startled by one, an 89-year-old woman, that he ran from the home and fell on his face in the driveway, according to statements Cartlidge Sr. gave to police.

Although the Cartlidges were arrested Jan. 9 and remain behind bars, they weren't charged until yesterday, Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green said. It wasn't clear why they weren't arraigned when they were initially taken into custody.

After he was arrested, Cartlidge Sr. took officers around and pointed out the houses they had targeted, noting that he remembered one because they had hit it the same day his mother died, court documents said.

Cartlidge said he remembered one house because he knew when he was robbing it that it was the home of a former state trooper, the court documents said.

Green was tight-lipped on Crossley's status, saying that he was a "person of interest" and was in a "place where he can't commit burglaries, robberies or thefts."

Court records show that Crossley is in Chester County Prison on burglary and related charges.

Young and Green asked that anyone who recognizes Cartlidge or Crossley - even if they just knocked at the door one day - to contact state police or their local police. *