Police: Leechburg men charged after telling cops they burglarized house to rescue dogs

Two Leechburg men have been charged with multiple felonies after telling police they got drunk, broke into a neighbor’s house and took two dogs because they thought they were being abused, according to their arrest papers.

Michael Paul Keim, 39, and Kevin Karl Trefelner, 55, of Evergreen Road each were charged by Leechburg police with three counts of felony trespassing, along with theft, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief, in connection with the Jan. 18 incident, according to a criminal complaint.

Police say Keim and Trefelner were arrested after a woman came to the police station Jan. 19 to report her house was burglarized and her two dogs were gone.

The woman told police a neighbor witnessed two men who appeared to be intoxicated enter her home the previous night and let the dogs loose, the complaint said. The woman said the front door and a door on the second floor were damaged.

One of the dogs, a shepherd, is valued at $200; the other, a bluetick coonhound, is valued at $500, according to the complaint.

Police said they interviewed the neighbor, who corroborated the woman’s statement.

When an officer went to Keim’s house, his mother confirmed both dogs were there and Keim and Trefelner lived in the home, the complaint said.

Keim told police he was walking along Evergreen Avenue the previous night and heard a dog barking in an abandoned house. He said he thought the animal needed help so he called police, according to the complaint.

Investigators noted an officer responded to a call for a barking dog at the residence the night of the burglary.

Keim told police, after police left the house, he and Trefelner went there because they feared for the safety of the animal, the complaint said.

He said he pushed the front door open and let the dog run out and then went to the second floor because he heard another dog barking, police said.

Keim told police the door was padlocked, so he kicked it in and let the dog free, according to the complaint.

He told police he and Trefelner spent about an hour trying to wrangle the dogs before they were able to get them into their home. He said he called the telephone number on the collar of one of the dogs but got no answer.

Keim also told police he called Delmont-based Hoffman Kennels, which provides animal control services for a number of municipalities, the complaint said.

Police said they contacted the company, but there was no record of a call received from Keim.

Trefelner told police he and Keim were intoxicated when they broke into the woman’s house and he also believed “the dogs weren’t being treated right,” the complaint said.

Both men are scheduled to appear Feb. 16 before District Judge James Andring for their preliminary hearings.