A Coalport man is behind bars after allegedly breaking into a vehicle on a local college campus and then fleeing police when confronted in two separate but related cases.

Sean Michael Keppler, 37, was arraigned in both cases on Saturday by Magisterial District Judge Paula M. Aigner on felony counts of theft, theft from a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property and escape, as well as two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and one misdemeanor count of evading arrest.

Unable to post $75,000 bail in either case, Keppler was remanded to the Blair County prison.

Penn State University Police received a call from a victim regarding a theft from her vehicle. When officers reviewed surveillance video, they saw an unknown individual, later identified as Keppler, entering the vehicle before exiting the parking lot on foot. The items stolen cost about $2,400, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

On Friday, an officer with the Altoona Police Department radioed to other officers that he thought he saw the suspect entering the Sheetz at 700 Chestnut Ave. The officer entered the Sheetz and told Keppler he was the subject of a police investigation. Keppler then ran outside, across the Sheetz parking lot, Chestnut Avenue and paralleled the Eighth Street Bridge to the 10th Avenue expressway, according to the report.

During the foot chase, the officer was giving Keppler multiple verbal commands to stop, but Keppler continued fleeing east, running next to the railroad tracks and entering the Union Tank Car’s fenced property. There, another officer saw Keppler in the trolly pit trying to flee south. The officer drew a Taser and told Keppler to stop. When Keppler ignored him, he discharged the Taser, incapacitating Keppler, court documents state.

During the pursuit, an officer suffered a right knee strain and injuries to both hands that required stitches, the report states. The officer reported Keppler as wearing the same hat, glasses and white sneakers that were shown in the surveillance video. When Keppler was arrested, he had about $863 on his person, police records state.

In an interview with Penn State police, Keppler said he knew he was the suspect in the theft and fled on foot to avoid being arrested. Officers told Keppler he didn’t have to admit to the theft, but officers wanted to retrieve the items. Keppler told them he tossed several of the items in Federal Alley, while others were located at his halfway house in Coalport, court documents state.

Keppler’s preliminary hearings are set for Nov. 6 before Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio.