More felony charges for Spring Creek man in February incident
Three additional felony charges have been filed against a Spring Creek man accused of holding a woman hostage in late February in Pittsfield Township.
Robert R. Hall Jr., 53, of Spring Creek was charged Wednesday with second-degree felony burglary – not adapted for overnight accommodation, no person present; second-degree felony criminal trespassing – breaking into structure; third-degree felony retail theft – taking merchandise valued at more than $1,000 and second-degree criminal mischief – damaging property. The charges stem from a Feb. 24 incident.
Hall has been in the county jail since late February on $100,000 bail after a reported hostage situation in Pittsfield Township. That incident resulted in charges of unlawful restraint/serious bodily injury, a first-degree misdemeanor, simple assault, a second-degree misdemeanor, misdemeanor terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, a first-degree misdemeanor, harassment and cruelty to animals.
According to the affidavit, when state troopers arrived, a woman said Hall Jr. had been “holding her in the house against her will and had been hitting her and her dog.”
Hall had allegedly prevented the victim from leaving for three days, taken her cell phone, and sat on the couch with the woman, telling her that if she tried to leave or contact anyone, he would kill her. The affidavit also said Hall allegedly punched the woman multiple times, dragged the woman by her hair into the bedroom and told her he was going to hang himself and make her watch. The woman’s service dog allegedly attempted to bite Hall, according to the affidavit.
“Hall grabbed the dog by the neck, lifted it off the ground, and shook it. He then began punching the dog multiple times,” the affidavit states.
The woman was able to connect an old phone she was given by Hall to play games on to Wi-Fi and send a Facebook message to a friend asking them to call 911 while he slept at her feet with a butcher knife.
State Police at Corry then filed additional charges in mid-March against Hall after allegedly stealing items the same weekend as the alleged hostage situation. According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, Hall allegedly broke into Lottsville Millings Inc. in Freehold Township and stole $160 worth of merchandise while allegedly committing $300 worth of damage inside the store on Feb. 24. Troopers responded to the store on Feb. 25. Surveillance footage captured the incident, and footage from the Lottsville Millings cameras was similar to footage captured by State Police at Warren who were investigating another burglary at a store in Sugar Grove. Two burglaries took place within minutes of each other and were a few miles apart. The person identified was driving a dark colored Ford Explorer that had running board brackets but no running boards.
The State Police at Warren executed a search warrant at Hall’s home on Feb. 27 and recovered a calculator allegedly stolen from Lottsville Millings and seized clothing police say was worn by Hall during both incidents. Police also report finding the same vehicle as was identified on the surveillance footage. Police then interviewed Hall at the Warren County Jail on March 3.
“During the interview, Hall was shown still images from the Lottsville Milling burglary and identified himself as the person in the photos,” the affidavit states. “He stated that he had taken his wife’s Xanax medication before committing the crime and that he remembered very little of what occurred that night.”