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Kozo

Mazza

PLAINS TWP. — Two men were arrested Monday in connection with several burglaries and thefts over the last few days in three municipalities.

Township police were dispatched to 20 Laurel St. at 6:49 a.m. Monday for a report of a male who entered the caller’s vehicle.

Albert Defrehn told police he saw a man in his 20s, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, wearing a dark-colored hoodie and sweatpants and carrying a backpack inside his work van before the man fled west on Laurel Street toward Amesbury Street.

Police observed a man fitting the description at the intersection of Laurel and Amesbury streets and identified him as Michael Francis Mazza. Police brought Defrehn to the intersection and Defrehn identified Mazza as the man he saw in his vehicle, police said.

Police found a large quantity of loose change in Mazza’s jacket pocket. As an officer was interviewing Mazza, other Plains Township officers informed the officer that several vehicles on Laurel Street had been entered and loose change had been removed.

When Mazza was asked what was in the backpack, he allegedly replied, “It’s all mine, you can check,” police said.

When police searched the backpack, they found several electronic items and medications prescribed to two different men living in Wyoming and Exeter. One of the medication theft victims also had his car stolen — a white Honda Pilot — from his Exeter address on March 6.

During a search of Mazza’s clothing, police said they found several gift cards, a driver’s license and credit cards belonging to individuals residing in Wyoming and Exeter. The theft of the items in Wyoming was reported on March 7.

After Mazza was read his Miranda rights at about 8 a.m., he allegedly admitted that he had been entering vehicles on Laurel Street, that he and Joseph Kozo stole an air compressor from a garage, and that Kozo was in possession of the stolen Honda Pilot.

Township police located the Pilot parked in the Rite Aid parking lot on River Street at about 8:40 a.m. and they arrested the driver, identified as Kozo, who allegedly said he was waiting for Mazza.

Mazza, 29, of Manor Drive, Shavertown, was charged with four counts of receiving stolen property, three counts of theft from a motor vehicle, and one count each of loitering and prowling at night, theft and burglary.

Kozo, 29, of Memorial Street, Exeter, was charged with two counts of receiving stolen property, and one count each of loitering and prowling at night, burglary and carrying a firearm without a license.

Both were arraigned in Nanticoke before District Judge Donald Whittaker, who set Mazza’s bail at $150,000 and Kozo’s at $100,000. Unable to post bail, they were jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility to await their preliminary hearings, scheduled for 8:45 a.m. March 17 before District Judge Diana Malast in Plains Township.