Two Allentown men accused of burglarizing a four businesses in the Upper Perkiomen valley last summer are currently confined in a Lehigh County jail. Efrain J. Santiago Colon, 24, and Joshua Torres-Ruiz, 21, each face multiple felony charges for a four-month, multi-county crime spree.

            Colon and Ruiz – arrested in December by the Pennsylvania State Police, with the investigative assistance of local police agencies and the Lehigh County Auto Theft Task Force – were allegedly part of an organized gang of individuals who committed multiple nighttime burglaries/attempted burglaries, motor vehicle thefts, and thefts from motor vehicles in Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Berks, Carbon, and Schuylkill counties from May through August of 2019. District attorneys from each county agreed to consolidate the charges and prosecution in Lehigh County, according to a news release provided by Lehigh County's DA office.

            Mike Everk, a trooper with the Bethlehem State Police Barracks, is listed as the arresting officer. A preliminary hearing in the case for Colon and Ruiz has been scheduled for 10 a.m. on Feb. 11 before Allentown District Judge Michael D'Amore.

            The defendants are accused of breaking into two automobile businesses during the overnight hours of June 10 on Railroad Street in Pennsburg. Security cameras identified four potential suspects, according to initial police reports.

            They initially caused substantial interior damage to Pennsburg Auto Body, located at 408 Railroad Street, after breaking in around 2 a.m., vandalizing the office, workspace and a classic Ford Mustang. They ransacked the office at Mayer Motors, a used car lot at 407 Railroad Street.

            Law enforcement officials are still working to identify the other two actors, according to Joe Adam, Jr., chief of the Upper Perk Police Department. The investigation is ongoing, according to the news release.

            Both men are also implicated in three additional criminal incidents in Upper Hanover, according to Everk. Schultzie's Truck & Auto, located at 1631 State St., and United Transmissions & Services, located at 846 Gravel Pike, were also broken into during the overnight hours of Sunday, June 9 into June 10, according to Adam.  

            Torres-Ruiz faces 26 felony counts of burglary and criminal conspiracy to commit burglary; seven counts of criminal attempt to commit burglary; and six additional counts of criminal conspiracy and four counts of theft by unlawful taking and criminal conspiracy to commit theft by unlawful taking or disposition. He is also charged with four misdemeanor counts of both theft from a motor vehicle and conspiracy to commit theft from a motor vehicle.

            Santiago-Colon faces 19 felony counts each of burglary and criminal conspiracy to commit burglary; five counts each of criminal attempt to commit burglary and criminal conspiracy; two counts each of theft by unlawful taking and criminal conspiracy to commit theft by unlawful taking; and three counts each of theft from a motor vehicle and criminal conspiracy to commit theft from a motor vehicle.