Teen Charged with Stealing Audi from Dealer

A Chester County man whose 2004 Ford had to be towed late Monday from Routes 22 and 512 was charged Tuesday with stealing a 2002 Audi from a nearby Bethlehem area dealership.

He said he stole the Audi – breaking rear windows in both showrooms to gain access -- “because the police had stolen his vehicle,” according to court records.

The suspect, Devon Morrissey, 19, of Phoenixville was driving the Audi when he was taken into custody Tuesday in Montgomery County by Upper Merion Township police, the records say.

An arrest warrant filed by Colonial Regional police gives the following account:

-- At 11:23pm Monday, police located a disabled vehicle – a 2004 Ford -- at the intersection of Routes 22 and 512. The car was registered to Laura Morrissey (the records do not say how she and the suspect are related). Laura Morrissey told police Devon Morrissey was driving. The car was towed.

-- On Tuesday, no time given, Bethlehem Township police got a call from a township resident who said Devon Morrissey was at his house and showed the resident a blue Audi A4 that he was driving. Morrissey told the resident he had stolen the car “because the police had stolen his vehicle.” The resident said the car had paper floor mats “which are normally found at a car dealer or car service center.”

--Also on Tuesday, no time given, police responded to a burglary at Faulkner Chevrolet Cadillac, 298 Stoke Park Road, Hanover Township (Northampton County). Someone had broken the rear windows of both showrooms, and the dealership discovered that a customer’s 2002 blue Audi had been taken. The stolen car was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the central data base for tracking crime information.

--Colonial Regional police were contacted by Upper Merion Township police, who said they recovered the stolen car with Morrissey driving.

Morrissey was arraigned Tuesday afternoon by on-duty District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township on charges of theft by unlawful taking and disposition and receiving stolen property. He was committed to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $75,000 bail.