Ohio man charged with stealing goods, car from Thomaston home

An Ohio man looted a Thomaston home on New Year's Day, damaging the house on the way in, then fleeing with cash, perfume, clothing, video games, compact discs and a sport utility vehicle, Nassau County police said.

Cops tracked down and detained the alleged burglar, Philip R. Mars, who was driving the stolen Nissan Pathfinder in Suffolk, police said.

The burglary started when Mars, 21, broke a window to get into the home, on East Shore Road, at about 6:30 a.m. police said. He then fled east in the stolen vehicle.

When Mars was finally spotted by the authorities, he was driving in Suffolk County, on Whiskey Road in Ridge. Suffolk County police had stopped the vehicle because Nassau cops put out an alert on the SUV, a Nassau spokeswoman said.

Mars, of Geneva, Ohio, was to be arraigned Saturday at First District Court in Hempstead on charges of burglary, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal mischief.

A police officer said Mars was brought to court Saturday morning. No one answered the phone at the arraignment-information line Saturday night.