Berks Intruder Told Homeowner He Was 'Looking For His Kids,' Troopers Say

It happened in Washington Township early on March 4, troopers wrote in a release. Officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Hillcrest Road for a reported burglary around 12:30 a.m.

The homeowner said he woke up to hear a loud crash and ran downstairs to find a stranger loitering in his kitchen, police wrote. The glass backdoor had been shattered.

"(The homeowner) confronted the man, who told him he was looking for his kids," the release says. The homeowner told him the "kids were upstairs," and the intruder went up there for "a short time" before returning to the kitchen, troopers said. 

"There they go, they are running back there in the woods," the burglar said, according to police, before running through the broken door and into a wooded area. 

The suspect's car was later found in the homeowner's driveway with the keys still in the ignition, troopers said. State and local police combed the woods and took a suspect into custody in Hereford Township about an hour later, the release says. 

Jason Cimino, 49, of Boyertown, was charged with burglary, criminal trespassing, and related offenses, according to state police. He was unable to post $25,000 bail and remains at the Berks County prison, they added. 

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