Robbery suspect arrested in Texas

The primary suspect in a string of robberies and vandalism at area businesses was apprehended by law enforcement in Marshall, Texas, on Thursday morning.

Bellefonte resident Zachary Corey Cooper, 37, is being held at the Harris County Jail pending extradition to Pennsylvania. A post to the Altoona Police Department’s Facebook page shows that Cooper is also wanted by state police at Lamar and state police at Rockview.

Cooper is facing eight felony counts of criminal mischief, six felony counts each of burglary, criminal trespass, theft and conspiracy to commit burglary, as well as single felony counts of receiving stolen property and criminal attempt to commit theft, according to an inactive criminal complaint filed in Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio’s office.

The investigation began when Altoona police received a report of theft at the Altoona Laundromat on March 11. Surveillance showed a white male arriving in a white GMC at 11:50 p.m. March 10. The suspect then allegedly broke into the business, stole money and caused thousands of dollars in damages to their skill machines. In the following weeks, similar incidents were reported at locations throughout the area.

Altoona detectives identified Cooper as a suspect and noted that a white GMC was registered to his girlfriend. They also found the vehicle at the couple’s Bellefonte residence and, upon receiving a search warrant, detectives found clothing and tools consistent with the reported incidents.

New charges filed against inmate

A Blair County Prison inmate had new charges filed against him after prison staff discovered an improvised weapon and other contraband hidden in his cell.

Damien David Bumburger, 24, was arraigned Wednesday by Magisterial District Judge Paula M. Aigner on two misdemeanor counts of an inmate procuring a weapon which may be used for escape, as well as one misdemeanor count each of making terroristic threats and criminal conspiracy to procure a weapon which may be used for escape. His bail was set at $75,000.

The charges were brought after Hollidaysburg officers spoke with a deputy warden at the prison regarding an improvised weapon found in a cell on Feb. 3, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The deputy warden told officers that prison staff were conducting cell searches earlier that day when an inmate told him to be careful in Cell 8 because they had a “banger,” meaning contraband or a sharp weapon. A search of the cell yielded an improvised weapon made out of heavy wire and cloth hidden under a towel on the top bunk. The search also turned up an empty deodorant bottle containing a roll of heavy metal wire, a small nail and a plastic ink tube with a sharp wire affixed to one end, the police report states.

The deputy warden told officers that Bumburger was then in the shower area and refusing to leave. Multiple staff reports stated Bumburger was threatening to stab them with a ballpoint pen if they came after him. A different deputy warden wrote that “inmate Bumburger stated ‘I’m going to get at least one of you with this pen.'” After prison staff attempted to talk Bumburger out of the shower area, a planned use of force was executed and Bumburger was detained and placed into a holding cell.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in front of Aigner on April 29.

From Mirror staff reports