A Centre County Judge sentenced two men responsible for a string of State Patty’s Day burglaries to jail time in county prison.
Centre County Common Pleas Judge Thomas King Kistler sentenced Jesse T. Hribar, 23, and Andrew Ronczka, 22, both of Monaca, to 11½ to 23½ months in a county correctional facility followed by two years of probation.
Sentencing followed Hribar’s open guilty plea to five counts of burglary, one count of criminal conspiracy to commit burglary, and 14 counts of criminal trespass.
Authorities say the crimes occurred March 1 during the State Patty’s Day celebration – an event created by Penn State students that promotes binge drinking. In the days following the event, police received calls from State College residents reporting burglaries of their apartments.
Police identified victims in The Meridian II and University Towers apartment buildings. Surveillance videos from the apartment buildings showed Hribar and Ronczka walking around the complexes and checking apartment doors and entering the ones that were unlocked.
Authorities say Hribar and Ronczka entered at least 19 apartments and stole cash, electronics, jewelry, watches, and textbooks. The total value of stolen items from the victims that reported was more than $2,000.
“Excessive drinking under the guise of State Patty’s Day is no excuse to come to State College, enter people’s homes and steal,” District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said in a prepared statement. “Students’ homes are not shopping malls for thieves, residents’ belongings, privacy and safety must be respected.”
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