Crime & Safety

Preliminary Hearing Held for Suspects in Racing Club Burglary

Police say those charged were living on private property in a "camp community" in the borough.

Thousands of dollars of goods were damaged or stolen at Montgomery County Quarter Midget Racing Club, and a preliminary hearing was held Thursday for the four young people accused in the burglary.

One of the defendant’s lawyers referred to the camp community where police arrested the suspects as “the Woodstock of Phoenixville.” A sergeant testified that it was apparent the seven campers found on the morning of July 4 were living at the campsite “for some period of time.”

The four defendants in Thursday’s preliminary hearing were Quincy Marks, 20, of Phoenixville; Karl Neumann, 20, of Schwenksville; Danielle Luteman, 20, of Pottstown; and Michael Taylor, 22, of Collegeville. Additionally, a “mystery camper” is being investigated for the crimes, which also include misdemeanor drug and paraphernalia charges along with a list of conspiracy charges.

Find out what's happening in Phoenixvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The investigation is ongoing as to his involvement,” Sgt. Joseph Nemic, a detective with the Phoenixville Police Department, testified of a possible fifth man involved.

All of the defendants’ lawyers argued for the charges to be thrown out at the preliminary hearing. District Judge Theodore Michaels held all charges for court. All except Marks were free on bail for the preliminary hearing.

Find out what's happening in Phoenixvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nemic told of difficulty with processing the scene, which consisted of four tents—three that were lived in and one for supplies—located off of a dirt road set back from Mowere Road in the borough.

“This campsite was a mess,” Nemic said. “There was stuff everywhere. It looked like an episode of ‘Survivor.’”

Sgt. David Gold of the Phoenixville Police Department came across the campers shortly after July 4 at 10:30 a.m. Gold testified at the preliminary hearing that he’d read the report about a burglary at the Montgomery County Quarter Midget Racing Club before his July 4 shift. The burglary was reported on July 3.

While on patrol, Gold said he noticed a chain down on a property belonging to the Pollock Corporation of Pottstown. He drove his patrol car up the dirt path, located off of Mowere Road west of St. Mary’s Street. Two cars caught his eye, and then he spotted a third car.

Gold testified he noticed a brightly colored orange object, and when he walked over to it, he saw four tents set up in somewhat of a circle. A female was standing between two of the tents. He called for the campers to come out of their tents.

In one tent, he noticed a rifle between two of the males inside, Gold testified. The rifle was later found to be a pellet gun. Numerous knives and tools were scattered about, according to Gold.

Seven people were at the site when Gold showed up. He told the judge he noticed plastic bins, a fire pit, a table with food and drinks, two large glass coffee pots and a lot of medical equipment.
“I remember seeing a stethoscope,” Gold said.

He thought it was suspicious that the food was in bulk packaging, and that there were two large glass coffeepots but no coffeemaker, Gold said in court.

Gold catalogued the items found in each tent during his testimony. Luteman and Taylor were set up in the first tent, where police reported finding a crowbar, a money bag, a small digital scale and two glass smoking pipes with residue.

According to Gold’s testimony, Marks and another man who wasn’t charged were in tent two, where police reportedly discovered plastic bins with food and drinks inside, a small plastic bag of a substance that field tested positive for marijuana and a glass smoking pipe, along with a radio.

In tent four, where Gold testified Neumann was camping with another male who wasn’t charged, police found a glass smoking pipe along with sleeping items, Gold said.

Tent three was apparently used for storage, Gold explained, because there wasn’t enough room for anyone to sleep. On the site, Gold testified that police found clothes, mugs and chairs all marked with the racing club’s logo.

In total, 16 items were given back to the president of the racing club. Some of those, the defendants’ attorneys indicated in court, actually did belong to the campers, and police are working to get those returned.

During Nemic’s testimony, he explained that he took statements during five to seven hours of interrogation the day the campers were taken into custody. Luteman declined to speak with investigators, but Neumann and Taylor provided statements, Nemic said.

He testified that Taylor’s original story “didn’t make any sense,” and that Taylor cited a “mystery camper” who was responsible for the burglary. He defined Neumann’s original statement as “kind of unreasonable,” as Neumann first told police the supplies were from a wholesale retailer.

Nemic also testified to the damage at the race track, though attorneys for the defendants argued that Nemic’s testimony should be thrown out as he didn’t go to the quarter midget track himself.

The campsite was located 150 to 200 yards from the track, according to Nemic. He also testified that all the items were returned to the president of the racing club “on the spot.”

“We just don’t have the facility to store that amount of evidence,” Nemic said.

Following the testimony, three private attorneys and a public defender representing the defendants asked Michaels to throw out the charges. All explained that the mere presence of their clients at the campsite wasn’t reason enough to hold the charges for the Court of Common Pleas.

Attorney Michael Skinner, representing Taylor, told the judge there was “no evidence” presented by the Commonwealth that his client participated in or knew about the burglary at the race track. During testimony, Nemic said one of the people interviewed said Taylor was unloading stolen goods from the race track. However, no evidence presented showed Taylor breaking into the buildings.

“There can’t be a conspiracy after the fact,” Skinner said.

Likewise, Luteman’s attorney argued that there wasn’t evidence “other than she was present at the campsite.” There was not testimony that Luteman was at the track, the attorney pointed out.

Assistant Public Defender Meredith Copeland asked for the case against Marks, which Michaels said was the weakest case of the bunch, to be thrown out.

“The primary evidence against Mr. Marks is mere presence,” Copeland told the judge, calling evidence presented about the actual burglary “slight.”

Attorney Robert Stauffer, representing Neumann, pointed out that there was a fifth party, the “mystery camper,” who could be responsible for the crimes.

“The only evidence about my client is that he was hauling some food around,” Stauffer said.

After holding all charges for court, Michaels changed bail to unsecured for Marks, who was the only one of the four still in Chester County Prison after the court couldn’t find a reliable address for him.

All four defendants face felony burglary, theft and receiving stolen property charges along with other misdemeanor charges.

A formal arraignment for the four defendants is scheduled for July 28.  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.