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Tyrone woman accused of trespass

Police: McClellan entered home while holding dog, syringe

McClellan

A Tyrone woman who state police allege walked into a home at 3 a.m. with a small dog and a syringe full of a liquid will face trial.

Melissa Ann McClellan, 43, of 1007 Decker Hollow Road, waived her preliminary hearing on felony criminal trespass and misdemeanor loitering and prowling at night charges on Tuesday at Tyrone District Court.

According to state police, homeowners on the 1100 block of Decker Hollow Road told troopers that they found McClellan inside their home about 3 a.m. after she walked in through an unlocked door.

One of the residents said he was having trouble sleeping, so he was watching television when he saw McClellan standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

He identified the woman in his house as McClellan and said she appeared to be under the influence of something “because she was acting weird,” Trooper Willis Sneath noted in the charges.

When he asked what she was doing, she said she was looking for his next-door neighbor’s house. McClellan had a syringe filled with a liquid, the homeowner said, as well as a little white dog, her cellphone and a pack of cigarettes.

When he asked what the syringe was for, she allegedly said it was water for her dog, state police said. McClellan said the neighbor was a friend of hers and she was lost, so the homeowner escorted McClellan out of the house and pointed her toward the neighbor’s home.

The residents also had video surveillance footage, and when they talked to their neighbor, he told them McClellan wasn’t a friend of his and she hadn’t been to his house before or after the incident, according to state police. He did know who she was and was able to identify her through the video.

State police said McClellan left her cellphone, cigarettes and the syringe on the back patio and it was through the cellphone police were able to positively identify her as the woman inside the house.

McClellan was arraigned July 30 and lodged in Blair County Prison in lieu of $40,000 cash bail. She is scheduled for a formal arraignment in Blair County Court on Sept. 11.

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