Police: Havertown Man Stole Coin Jar From Burning Home

A Havertown man is in legal trouble after Haverford Township Police say he stole a coin jar from a Princeton Road home while it was on fire.

Ian Michael Schultz, 20, faces charges of burglary, criminal trespassing, and theft by unlawful taking stemming from the alleged September 23 incident.

According to court documents, a home on the 100 block of Princeton Road was struck by a kitchen fire on September 23 and the following day, when the family returned to their home, the mother and wife noticed a coin jar that contained approximately $400 in loose change missing from the top of a dresser in the master bedroom.

A soot ring on the top of the bureau indicated the jar had been removed after the fire.

Police sought out the two juveniles who had first spotted the fire and called 911. On September 26, they both reported to police headquarters.

The first juvenile told police that he and juvenile two were walking home from the skate park when they saw the fire. Juvenile one called 911 while juvenile two ran into the woods to tell some kids who were hanging out back there that “the cops were coming.” When juvenile two returned from the woods he brought three people with him, one of whom was Schultz.

According to juvenile one’s testimony, he and Schultz ran into the house. While juvenile one stayed in the living room and shouted to make sure that no one was trapped in the burning home, Schultz ran upstairs, then scuttled back down with the coin jar.

Juvenile two didn’t contradict this account. Juvenile two told police that Schultz, before entering the home asked “Why did you call the police? We could have looted the house first.” Juvenile two added that juvenile one told him, as they walked home from the fire, that Schultz had taken the coin jar.

Ian Schultz was charged on October 25 and, after a brief confinement, released from Delaware County Prison on $35,000 bail. He faces formal arraignment on November 29.