The contents of a getaway car could link three men charged with burglary to other recent armed burglaries, police say.
Police filed a search warrant March 4 for the vehicle of Maksim Illarionov, 21, of State College, and seized a DSR car battery jumper -- which police believe was stolen from Monro Muffler, 1505 N. Atherton St., on Feb. 4.
Police also found items in a white plastic shopping bag in Illarionov's tan 1999 Honda Accord that were similar to items reported stolen in recent burglaries, according to court papers.
Now, Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller says the three men arrested March 3 could face additional charges as the county-wide investigation continues, despite the men waiving their rights to a preliminary hearing March 10 in Centre County court.
Police said that the bag contained dozens of antique jewelry pieces, including gold earrings, pendants, watches and Costa Rican currency, according to the warrant.
Police also found rounds from a .45 caliber pistol -- one of several weapons used in recent burglaries, according to the warrant.
Sitting in the Centre County Courthouse on March 10 in an orange prison jumpsuit, Illarionov remained silent before consulting with his attorney and waiving his right to a preliminary hearing before Centre County District Judge Jonathan Grine.
Police worked with an informant who was in the car with the three men the night of the robberies and arrested Illarionov; Dmitriy Litvinov, 23, of Boalsburg; and Alex Semionov, 28, of Brooklyn. The men first planned to rob Uncle Chen's Chinese Restaurant, 430 E. Calder Way, but decided to break into a State College home when they realized the restaurant was closed, police said.
The men then drove to a residence near Hillcrest Avenue and Glenn Road, where Semionov entered the garage and returned with car chains and a garage door opener, police said. Semionov left again and police apprehended him somewhere in the neighborhood, according to court documents.
The other two men were arrested after they reconvened at the Penn State technology center, according to court documents.
The March 3 incident was the latest in a spree of armed robberies throughout the area.
A pizza deliveryman was robbed at gunpoint outside The Pointe, 501 Vairo Blvd, around 10 p.m. on February 11. At 9 the next night, two men carjacked a man near campus, drove him to an ATM in Boalsburg and beat him over the head.
Then around 11 p.m. February 24, three men held up the Dollar General Store in Centre Hall.
But State College Police Captain Dana Leonard said he could not comment on whether Illarionov or the other two men would be charged in connection to these incidents since the investigation and cases are ongoing.
Officials from both the Ferguson and Patton Township Police Departments said that they were also unable to comment on the search warrant and any link it could provide to earlier incidents.
On March 3, Grine arraigned each of the three men and sent them behind bars at the Centre County Correctional Facility on $800,000 cash bail.
At his arraignment, Illarionov maintained his innocence and demanded answers from Grine, asking why he was being jailed.
Attorneys for all three men declined to comment.
