New Kensington man pleads no contest in Laurelton Center burglary case

Copper piping and wiring were stripped from the long-vacant Laurelton Center, leaving $12,000 in damage and a Union County burglary case that has now reached a New Kensington man.

Christopher Duane Hall, 42, of Garfield Street in New Kensington, pleaded no contest April 10 to a felony burglary count before Union County Judge Michael Piecuch. The plea did not amount to a formal admission of guilt, but it allowed the case to move forward on the evidence prosecutors presented.

Investigators say Hall, Michael Shawn Klingensmith, 61, of Sarver, and Gerald Daniel Ogershok, 38, of Russellton, broke into the former Laurelton Center at 19200 Old Turnpike Road in Hartley Township and removed $7,150 worth of copper piping and wiring on February 3, 2025. The thefts also caused $12,000 in damage to the vacant complex, according to the case filing. The men then returned the next night, when Pennsylvania State Police caught them at the property.

Klingensmith and Ogershok have already been sentenced in the case. Klingensmith received four to 48 months in state prison after pleading no contest to one burglary count tied to the first break-in and guilty to a second burglary count tied to the next night. Ogershok pleaded guilty to two felony burglary counts and one misdemeanor drug count and was sentenced to six to 47 months in state prison.

Hall now faces a pre-sentence investigation, and no sentencing date has been set. His plea keeps the focus on what the Laurelton case has exposed for Union County: a large, vacant public campus that remained vulnerable enough for repeat thefts, even with state police eventually making arrests.

Laurelton Center was once Laurelton State Village, also known as Laurelton State School and Hospital. Historical sources say it was established in 1913, with the first residents arriving in 1917, on a campus along PA Route 45 that grew over time with additional construction during the New Deal era. Today, the old institution remains a reminder that abandoned public sites can still carry a price tag for taxpayers when copper, wiring and other salvageable materials are left unprotected.