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Police: City man stole from skill game

Roland charged in theft of $1,295 from restaurant’s touchscreen machine

An Altoona man accused of stealing money from a Pennsyl­vania skill game is now behind bars.

Joshua W. Roland, 28, was ar­rested by state police on an Altoona police warrant Tuesday and taken before Magisterial District Judge Ben Jones for arraignment on theft-related charg­es stemming from the alleged theft of $1,295 in cash from a touchscreen machine at a city restaurant.

According to charges filed by Altoona police, the machine is one of two in Nicoletta’s Restaurant, 1700 Eighth Ave., and is owned by DeLeo Games.

About 10:30 a.m. May 29, an employee of DeLeo showed up at the restaurant to retrieve money from the machine and discovered the money stacker box was missing.

A check of the restaurant’s security footage showed a younger, white man with light brown or blond hair — whom police later identified as Roland — walk into the restaurant at 8:11 a.m. and sit down at the machine.

Police indicated in the charges that Roland appeared to be playing the machine, but he also acted suspiciously and would look around from time to time.

The video allegedly shows Roland unlock the machine’s padlock, open the console and take the money before closing it up again. At 8:38 a.m., Roland walked out of the restaurant, police noted.

The money stacker box held $1,295 in cash, and after police put images from the surveillance footage on Facebook, numerous tips came in.

Police said one of the tipsters recognized Roland because of the sneakers he was wearing.

Police said Roland was also recognized by Altoona police Detective Sgt. Terry Merritts, who filed the charges last week.

Altoona police told Jones that state police had recovered more than 100 keys from Roland when he was taken into custody Tuesday and that more charges were pending.

Roland told Jones that he was addicted to meth­amphetamine and was expecting to enter a rehabilitation facility this week, although he didn’t have an exact date. When the judge pressed him on his claim, Roland said he had been told by the facility they had a bed for him this week and would call him the day before.

Roland, who is homeless, was out on bail on a felony criminal trespass case from April stemming from his arrest by Altoona police inside the former Belmar Hotel, 1501 Fourth Ave. Roland waived that case on to Blair County Court in April.

Jones set bail for Roland at $20,000 cash, and he was taken to Blair County Prison. A preliminary hearing is slated for July 17 at Central Court.

Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7458.

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