Police accuse North Hills man of beheading woodpecker sign at Upper Burrell tavern
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A North Hills man is accused of decapitating the bird on a custom-made sign at Woodpeckers Pub & Grub in Upper Burrell and driving off with it as a souvenir.
Matthew John Hoch, 33, of McIntyre Road in Richland Township was charged with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property, along with a count of criminal mischief in the July 30 incident.
He faces a preliminary hearing Oct. 4 before District Judge Cheryl Peck-Yakopec.
The owner of the pub in the 3500 block of Seventh Street contacted Upper Burrell police Aug. 16 to report the theft and to say he had video from security cameras showing the incident, according to a criminal complaint.
The owner told police materials for the sign cost $600, plus another $1,400 for the artist’s fee. The sign, which depicts a bird similar to the character in the Woody Woodpecker cartoon, created in 1940, is at the bar’s front entrance.
The video shows a man, later identified as Hoch, arriving at the tavern shortly before midnight in a black SUV and meeting up with two women inside, where he ordered a beer and paid with cash, the complaint said.
The man is seen leaving the bar alone at 1:55 a.m., according to the complaint. He is seen stopping to tear the woodpecker’s head off its body, putting it in the trunk and driving off, police said.
Police said the man was driving a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with wheels that are “somewhat unique and easily identifiable,” the complaint said.
Police said they were able to search traffic cameras along the roadway and spot the vehicle — along with an image of the license plate — at a location about 20 minutes away from Woodpeckers.
Hoch’s state driver’s license photo, as well as booking photos from previous arrests, were compared to the images of the man in the bar, which police said were “unquestionably … one and the same,” the complaint said.
Hoch did not have an attorney listed in court documents.