FARMINGTON — A Fayette man serving a six-month sentence in the Somerset County jail had a $15,000 cash bail set Friday on new charges related to two break-ins at a shed and a garage in Jay in April.
Michael W. Gatcomb Jr., 28, was arrested by warrant on Jay Police Department charges of two counts each of felony burglary and theft and one count of felony stealing drugs.
Gatcomb is serving a six-month sentence on a bail violation on previous convictions.
He is scheduled to be released in November from that sentence. He would have to make $15,000 bail on the new charges to be released, unless he argues for less.
In April, Jay police investigated two burglaries on Mill View Road, near Woodman Hill Road, in North Jay. Equipment was taken from a shed but found on the property in a ditch. The prescription drugs were not located.
A second burglary on the road was at a garage where ice fishing equipment was stolen. It was also recovered next to the road near the property. According an affidavit for a warrant, police sent equipment with DNA evidence to be analyzed at the state crime laboratory.
Gatcomb waived reading on the new charges in Franklin County Superior Court.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Robbins proposed bail at $25,000 cash. He listed numerous convictions, including thefts, burglaries, tampering with a witness, assault, probation violations and violations of conditions of release.
“Mr. Gatcomb has a long record,” he said.
Gatcomb said the warrant kind of caught him by surprise.
Justice Michaela Murphy set bail at $15,000 with a condition that it could be reviewed.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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