MERCER, Pa. - A Mercer man faces nineteen charges, including arson and burglary, after a series of alleged break-ins and thefts at churches and Amish-owned businesses across Mercer County.

State police arrested Harley Richard Redmond, 29, following an investigation that linked him to at least seven incidents, one of which involved a fire at a local church.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the Pennsylvania State Police, the incidents took place between May 16 and May 21, 2024.

At the M&M Grocery Store in West Salem Township, an estimated $300 to $400 in cash, a bank bag, and change were reported to be stolen between May 16 and May 17.

The Byler Discount Store in Jackson Township was the target of an attempted burglary on May 17 or 18, which resulted in damage to its front door and a missing doorknob, though no entry was ultimately gained.

The Coolspring Presbyterian Church in Fairview Township was also hit between May 16 and May 19, with damage to its front entry door, a missing lock bar, and a broken interior office door during an attempted theft.

Damage to the Jerusalem Christian Church in Otter Creek Township was estimated at over $5,000, due to several fires intentionally set inside the building on May 19. Witnesses reported seeing a dark green GMC Sierra pickup truck with noticeable rust leaving the scene.

Pastor Jerry McCloskey said the damage totaled roughly $300,000.

"A lot of smoke damage, and it traveled in up a walkway into the main area," McCloskey said, "We had just had that painted up there, and it got so hot that it melted the light fixtures."

Fortunately, he said insurance covered costs. Even so, the church lost valuable historical items.

"It was sad," he said, "It was sad that anybody would want to do this to a church, let alone somebody's house. But it was also unsettling, and as a whole, it brought us all together. Honestly."

At the Clarks Mills Community Church in Perry Township, approximately $400 in cash and a small hinged wooden box were stolen from a locked office between May 17 and May 18.

The Ben Byler Small Engine Repair Shop in Fairview Township reported $300 stolen from its cash register between May 18 and May 20, after entry was made through an unlocked door. The shop owner described a suspicious white male in his 30s, with tattoos and gauged ears, who had arrived in an older, "beat up and rusty" GMC pickup truck.

The Sandy Lake Presbyterian Church in Sandy Lake Township had an unlocked window pushed open and an interior door forced open and damaged during an attempted theft between May 19 and May 21.

Investigators reported detecting a pattern among the incidents: all targets were either churches or Amish businesses, the crimes occurred within a very specific timeframe, and the primary objective of the thefts was cash or its immediate containers. The absence of similar incidents before or after this period further suggested a connected criminal operation, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities were able to link Redmond to the crimes through several pieces of evidence. Witnesses at both the Jerusalem Christian Church fire and the Ben Byler Small Engine Repair incident described an older, rusty GMC pickup truck. Surveillance footage from Commodore Perry School on May 19, 2024, showed a GMC pickup truck matching this description, along with a white male, later identified as Redmond, approaching the school. The truck in the video was distinctive, featuring a plastic covering where the rear window should have been and duct tape on the rear driver's side taillight.

The male in the surveillance video also displayed a cross tattoo on his right upper arm, consistent with Redmond's known tattoos, and his physical description matched that provided by the owner of Ben Byler Small Engine Repair.

Further evidence emerged on June 25, 2024, when a 2005 GMC Sierra pickup truck was reported to be stolen, with Redmond named as the suspect. This truck was described as having a missing back window, replaced by plastic. Redmond was subsequently arrested on June 27, 2024, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, while driving this stolen truck, which indeed had a broken back window covered with plastic and a non-functioning rear passenger side light.

Redmond's ex-girlfriend, who had traveled to Iowa with him in May 2024, played a role in the investigation. She confirmed that the truck seen in the Commodore Perry School video was the one they had used and identified Redmond in the footage. She also revealed that Redmond had a "substantial amount of unexplained cash" in a bank bag just before their abrupt departure for Iowa. She later found and turned over a blue First National Bank bag, consistent with the type used by M&M Grocery, as well as a distinctive small wooden box, which the Clarks Mills Community Church confirmed was the one stolen from their premises.

Housing records from Iowa showed Redmond moved into a new residence on May 20 or 21, 2024, a timeline that directly coincided with the cessation of the burglaries in Mercer County.

When interviewed on June 20, 2025, Redmond denied any involvement with the stolen box or the burglaries. He also insisted that the truck in the Commodore Perry images was not his, despite admitting earlier in the interview that his truck had previously lacked a back window.

Redmond was arraigned on Monday, before Magisterial District Judge Daniel W. Davis. He faces six counts of felony burglary, along with felony arson and felony institutional vandalism.

Additionally, he is charged with two counts of misdemeanor theft by unlawful taking and four counts of misdemeanor criminal mischief.

Redmond remains held at Mercer County Prison, unable to post $50,000 bail, with a preliminary hearing set for August 4, 2025.