Man will go to trial on theft charges

Kevin Michael Hecht, 19, of West Lawn, waived his preliminary hearing yesterday and will proceed to trial sometime in February.

Hecht is charged with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and criminal use of a communication facility after he allegedly took $3,200 from a confidential police informant to make a drug buy but never returned with either drugs or money.

He turned himself in to police after he learned the confidential informant was a police employee and he had stolen the official county funds.

His pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 26 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

Student bound over in weekend clash

Penn State student Jim Stenson, 19, of Haverford, was bound over for trial yesterday on charges of criminal trespass, criminal mischief, harassment and underage consumption of alcohol.

The charges stem from an altercation at about 4 a.m. Saturday in a Beaver Hill apartment, 340 E. Beaver Ave. According to court documents, Stenson forced his way into the apartment and accused the resident of throwing water balloons at him. When she threatened to call the police, he allegedly knocked the cell phone from her hand and kicked it, according to court documents. A burglary charge was dropped by the district attorney's office.

Stenson's pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 26 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

13-year-old girl charged in bank robbery

JOHNSTOWN (AP) -- A 13-year-old girl was charged with holding up a bank, police said.

The robbery took place around noon Tuesday at the First National Bank in the Moxham neighborhood of Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, police said. The branch has been robbed four times in the past five years.

Police said the robber walked into the bank and handed the clerk a note demanding money but didn't display any weapon. The money hadn't been recovered Tuesday night, police Capt. Andy Frear said.

The teenager was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon and held in the Cambria County Juvenile Detention Home. Her name wasn't released because she was charged as a juvenile.

Frear declined to discuss how police determined that she was the robber. Police had initially said they were seeking a clean-shaven black male wearing a red sweat shirt and khaki pants.