Members of Burglary Ring Face Formal Arraignment

Several of the people charged with participating in a ring of burglars who struck homes in Cranberry Township and throughout Butler, Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties will be formally arraigned Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Acting Attorney General Bill Ryan said the Allegheny County-based ring of seven people netted nearly $210,000 in at least 10 burglaries between February and April of last year.

John Balicki, 29, of Independence Court, Monroeville – whom a state grand jury identified as the group’s ringleader – will be formally arraigned before Cranberry Magisterial District Judge David Kovach at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

The charges against him include 25 counts of receiving stolen property, 22 counts of theft, 14 counts of burglary, seven counts of firearms violations, two counts of attempted burglary, two counts of attempted theft and other offenses for his role in the burglary ring.

Ring members Matt Barth, 28, of Wayne Village, Waynesburg, who is charged with 14 counts of theft, 14 counts of receiving stolen property, eight counts of burglary, three counts of firearm violations and other offenses;  Michael Koebler, 25, of Valley View Drive, Monroeville; and Christopher Black, 20, of Sunnyfield Drive, Monroeville, also will be formally arraigned at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Investigators said Balicki, posing as a landscaper, burglarized homes during daylight hours when people usually are at work. Barth, who testified before the grand jury after his February arrest that they would wear brown shirts, brown pants, hats and gloves while pretending to look for work, often accompanied Balicki.

According to investigators, the group targeted larger homes in housing developments, including Cranberry. After casing the homes to determine their targets, Balicki knocked on the front door of the home, according to the grand jury presentment.

If someone answered his knock, he offered landscaping services. If no one answered, Balicki headed to the back of the home and broke in while Barth acted as a lookout, according to the attorney general’s office.

Balicki and his associates would use walkie-talkies or text messaging to communicate, according to investigators. They also were skilled at bypassing or disabling alarm systems.

Investigators said the group targeted homes for cash, credit cards, driver’s licenses, guns, computers and other items that could be sold quickly.

According to the criminal complaint, which Cranberry Township police filed, during an April 23 burglary at a home on Buckingham Trail in Cranberry Township, Balicki stole a white Chevrolet Tahoe after finding the keys inside the house.

Barth told investigators he drove the Tahoe to Ohio, where police eventually found it.

The burglars also took jewelry and two handguns, a Colt revolver and a derringer, from the home on Buckingham Trail, according to the grand jury. The firearms were later recovered in Monroeville.

Investigators said that on the same day, the men broke into and took jewelry, electronics and a handgun from a home on Kilbuck Drive in Cranberry Township.

A blue Jeep Liberty the men had been using for the burglaries that day was later found abandoned in the parking lot of Old Towne Apartments in Cranberry, according to investigators. The vehicle had been reported stolen in Lawrence County earlier in the year.

Barth also told investigators he and Balicki burglarized two homes across the street from each other March 24 on Old Farm Road in Cranberry. Jewelry was among the stolen items.

Investigators said most of the items taken from the home were sold to other members of the organization or to local pawnshops. Sometimes, the items were stored in cars.

Balicki also hid jewelry and other items at various locations, including near a bowling alley in Monroeville and under a pile of wood behind a car dealership in Beaver County, before selling them, according to investigators.

Ryan said that during the investigation state and local police obtained and served search warrants and seized several duffel bags containing jewelry, silver proof coin sets, DVDS, video games, gaming consoles, a digital camera and laptops.

Investigators said the ring also burglarized homes in Monroeville, McCandless and Franklin Park in Allegheny County and Daugherty Township in Beaver County.

According to the criminal complaint, Balicki has nine prior arrests for burglary. He was released from prison in April 2009 after serving a four-year sentence.

The three other ring members charged in the burglaries are Kelly Kuzbicki, 28, of Fourth Ave. East, Beaver Falls, who was Balicki's girlfriend; Kyle Smith, 25, of Valley View Drive, Monroeville; and Ty Brown, 33, of East Crawford Ave., Connellsville.

They will be formally arraigned May 10 before Kovach.