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First Posted: 4/10/2014
EDWARDSVILLE — Borough police, acting with the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, arrested a resident of the Eagle Ridge apartment complex on drug charges after warrants were issued for his arrest based on numerous controlled drug buys within the apartment complex, police said.
Assalaam Wilson, no age available, with addresses listed for Beverly Drive in Edwardsville and Carey Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts each of possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility.
Police said they used a confidential informant to make controlled buys of heroin from Wilson inside the informant’s vehicle at the complex on March 24 and 25. They said Wilson told them he sold drugs to support his drug habit and the drug habit of his girlfriend.
Wilson was arraigned before District Judge Paul Roberts in Kingston. After failing to post $100,000 bail, he was taken to Wilkes-Barre police headquarters, where he was wanted on other charges, police said.
DUNMORE — The Pennsylvania State Police is assisting the Dalton Borough Police Department and the Roaring Brook Township Police Department with investigating church burglaries that occurred in their jurisdictions.
State police ask that anyone with any information on any church burglaries within the past year at churches in Wayne, Pike, Lackawanna, Susquehanna or Luzerne counties, contact the state police Criminal Investigation Unit in Dunmore at 570-963-3156.
HAZLETON — City police reported the following:
• Police are investigating a reported assault that occurred between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Saturday in the 100 block of South Wyoming Street. Police were called to the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton at approximately 9:20 a.m. and spoke to a man who said he was punched in the face by another person. Anyone with information about the assault is asked to contact police at 570 459-4949 or Luzerne County 911.
• Tools and metal were stolen from a locked trailer in the area of Lincoln and Broad streets during a break-in reported shortly after 10 :30 a.m. Saturday.
• An unknown vehicle struck the passenger side front and rear doors of a vehicle parked in the 600 block of Seybert Street sometime between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 9:49 p.m. Thursday and fled. Anyone with information should contact city police by calling 911.
• Antonio Baez-Figueroa was cited with public drunkenness early Sunday morning while police were looking into reported gunshots near East Juniper Street and South Woodward Court. Anyone with information about the reported gunshots is asked to contact city police.
• Johnathan Jaramillo Rodas, 26, of Hazleton, was arrested following a Saturday evening domestic dispute. Rodas was charged with making terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment.
• Joel Tejada-Guerra, 23, of Hazleton, was cited with disorderly conduct for allegedly making unreasonable noise at approximately 2:15 p.m. Saturday in the 700 block of West Eighth Street.
• Willie Edward Davis, of Hazleton, was cited for disorderly conduct after police responded to a report of fight in front of a residence in the 600 block of North Locust Street around 8:15 p.m. Thursday.
HAZLE TWP. — State police said a woman was injured Friday when she was struck by a car in the Walmart parking lot.
Linda Becker, 51, of Hazle Township, suffered a bruised left leg and possible broken toe on her left foot. She was struck as she was leaving the store by 2000 Toyota Avalon driven by Cornelius Seung, 81, of Mountain Top, state police said.
BUTLER TWP. —Police reported the following:
• Four people from Baltimore were arrested after they picked up a 17-year-old girl from the Keystone Job Corps Center and fled, leading to a police pursuit and temporary shut down of a portion of Interstate 81 Friday night.
Taylor Y. Snow, 21, Monta T. Walker, 22, Tyshawna Johnson, 20, and Johnny D. Snow, 19, were arraigned and committed to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of bail.
They four were stopped in a vehicle that went through a security gate. They came to the property to pick up the juvenile but were told she would not be released with parental permission. Their vehicle went through a secured area a second time where they picked up the girl. As it sped through the campus it crashed into an occupied security vehicle and fled. It was later located traveling southbound on the Interstate in Sugarloaf Township. The juvenile was unharmed and said she left with them voluntarily.
Police did not file interference with the custody of a minor charge because the girl legally left with an adult, even though she was not authorized by a parent or guardian.
All four of the vehicle’s occupants were charged with criminal trespass on school property. In addition, the driver, Taylor Snow, was charged with hit-and-run of an occupied vehicle and reckless driving. He was held for lack of $75,000 bail. The others were unable to post $50,000 bail each.
• Police are looking into two recent incidents involving guns at Dano’s Pub along Hunter Highway in Drums. Both incidents on Saturday and March 29 occurred around 2 a.m.
In both cases, callers told a 911 dispatcher a fight had broken out and someone had a gun. By the time officers had arrived, the gun-wielding brawler had fled. Anyone with information is asked to call township police at 570-788-3230.
• Someone stole a briefcase and a laptop computer from a vehicle parked along Edgerock Drive in the Beech Mountain Lakes gated community on March 19.
• Someone forced their way into a residence in the 100 block of Old Airport Road sometime between March 27-30 and stole items.
•Erin L. Cleary, 34, of Butler Township, was charged with terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment after police responded to a reported domestic dispute on Deep Hole Road on April 1.
• A 22-year-old man was approached by six people, two of whom demanded money and assaulted him, on Keystone Job Corps Center property at about 10 p.m. April 5. The victim suffered facial injuries and was treated at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton.
WEST PITTSTON — A man released from prison on parole last week was arrested again on charges he was driving drunk on a license suspended for driving drunk. The vehicle also was stolen, police said.
Richard L. Ostrander, 49, with no known address, was taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center for a blood alcohol content test. He was jailed in Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $10,000 bail, police said. Exeter borough also charged Ostrander with violating a protection from abuse order. The PFA violation increased the bail amount an additional $15,000, police said.
PLAINS TWP. — Township police reported the following:
• Eric Jones of Wilkes-Barre was arrested on driving under the influence charges after he crashed an all-terrain vehicle into a parked vehicle shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday on Maffett Street.
Jones “popped a wheelie, ” struck the parked vehicle and was injured when he struck his head on the pavement. He was not wearing a helmet and was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center. Jones, who is on probation, was wearing an ankle monitor and showed signs of intoxication. Charges will be filed, police said.
• Richard Koval of West Wyoming was arrested at 6:40 p.m. Saturday on Bank Street on a warrant from the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Department for failing to appear at a court hearing for driving under the influence charges. He was transported to the county prison.
• Amy Marcinkiewicz of Pittston was arrested at about 9:10 p.m. Thursday on a warrant from the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Department. She was taken into custody at the Turkey Hill on South Main Street after asking people for money to fill her prescriptions. She was transported to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.
• William Walker of Kingston was arrested after a head-on crash at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday on East Mountain Boulevard. He struck on oncoming vehicle owned by Geisinger. There were no injuries.
BLACK CREEK TWP. — State police on Friday filed a simple assault charge against Sean Mulligan, 38.
Mulligan allegedly punched Joseph Boyle, 59, in the face, fracturing his jaw, during a disagreement between them on March 26 at a residence on Tomhicken Road, state police said.
BEAR CREEK TWP. — The state police Troop P Vice/Narcotics Unit and the Wilkes-Barre Anti-Crime Unit arrested a Wilkes-Barre man they say they were told would be bringing heroin into Wilkes-Barre from Newark, N.J.
Ramon Ariz Leonard, 27, of Hazle Street, was taken into custody during a traffic stop on state Route 115 Tuesday night and, unable to post $100,000 bail,. was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in connection with other drug charges related to allegedly selling heroin to an undercover state trooper, state police said.
Police on Wednesday searched the vehicle and seized 601 packets of heroin with a street value of $12,020.
Police said the arrest and seizure were the result of a coordinated effort to combat violent crime and narcotics activity in Wilkes-Barre. More arrests are pending, they said.
HAZLE TWP. — State police at Hazleton reported the following incidents of access device fraud as reported by Hazle township residents:
• Daniel Belletieri reported that someone obtained his credit card information sometime between March 1 and April 7 and used it at a retail establishment in Towson, Md.
• Helen Sanzi reported someone used her debit card information to complete five unauthorized transactions in Miami, Fla.; Hialeah, Fla.; Carol City, Fla., and Warwick, R.I., between March 20 and April 2.
• Robert Szumilo reported that someone used his credit card information to make a $403.95 transaction at a Dollar General in Gate City, Va., on April 3.
• Karen Card reported that fraudulent purchases were made on her PNC Bank Visa check card on April 5.
• Sharon Gallagher reported someone made an unauthorized purchase in the amount of $70.78 at the AA Corp. in Enola using her EPPI Mastercard debit card on March 26.
• Margaret Ann Dudeck reported someone used her credit card information to make a $180 purchase from a Rite Aid store in Banks Township, Carbon County, on Wednesday. Paula Marie Mizenko, of Tresckow, Banks Township, reported that someone used her credit card information to make a $325.32 purchase at the same store on the same day.
HANOVER TWP. — David Letteer, 29, was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear in court while police were conducting an investigation into a hit-and-run crash that occurred in the morning of April 6 and found Letteer in his girlfriend’s bedroom at Marion terrace apartments later that night.
Police said they followed a trail of antifreeze from the crash scene to Marion Terrace Apartments and found Letteer’s Hyundai, which had damage consistent with the crash.
WRIGHT TWP. — Someone stole a large amount of copper pipe from inside an industrial building on Oakhill Road in Crestwood Industrial Park sometime between April 4-7, making it the second theft from the building in two weeks. Anyone with information should call police at 570-474-9251.
HAZLE TWP. — State police at Hazleton reported the following:
• Jermaine Kroon, of Hazleton, reported on April 6 that he lost his Samsung Galaxy S3 cellphone inside Walmart on Airport Road. The phone is white and has a blue case.
• Juan Francisco Nunez-Espinal, of Mahanoy City, reported that he accidentally left his iPhone S4 at the Vision Center at Walmart sometime between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m. April 4 and returned to find it was missing.
•Two men in their 20s stole three air pistols (two GAMO brand and one Smith and Wesson) from Walmart at about 3 a.m. on April 5. Police are analyzing surveillance video.
• Someone passed a counterfeit $100 bill Family Dollar at the Church Hill Mall about 3 p.m. on April 3. The suspect is described as a white male, about 25 years old, about 6 feet, 4 inches tall, with brown curly hair.
•Sharon Eckrote, of Hazle Township, reported that about $1,300 worth of jewelry was taken from a jewelry box in her bedroom sometime between 7 and 9 p.m. on April 7. She identified a family member as a probable suspect, police said.
• Rocco J. Arruzzo, of Hazleton, reported someone entered the Cash for Gold store in the Laurel Mall while it was unattended between 3:50 and 3:55 p.m. April 8 and took $410 from a drawer that had been locked.
Anyone who found the missing phone or who has information about the other incidents should call police at 570-459-3890.
HAZLETON — City police reported the following:
• Someone broke into a 1994 Toyota Solara and stole several items from inside while it was parked in the area of Pine and Hemlock streets between 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
• Someone damaged the rear door to a residence in the 100 block of East Diamond Avenue sometime between 9:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, although no apparent entry was made.
• Someone keyed several vehicles in the area of 1st and Monges streets on the afternoon of April 7.
• Someone entered a residence in the 100 block of South Wyoming Street sometime between April 4 and 7 and removed property from inside.
Anyone with information about any of these incidents should contact city police via dialing 911.
HANOVER TWP. — Courtney Montagna, 19, of Kingston, was charged with retail theft after an employee at Dundee Gardens alleged she concealed two Vera Bradley purses valued at about $108 on April 10, police said.
HAZLETON — Dennis Dorey, 35, was cited with harassment after police responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 700 block of North Vine Street at about 9:18 p.m. April 6, police said.
HAZLE TWP. — State police at Hazleton reported the following:
• A 16-year-old boy from McAdoo, Schuylkill County, is facing charges of possession with intent to sell marijuana, possession with intent to sell synthetic marijuana and five counts of possession of drug paraphernalia after state police observed him on Hazleton Area School District property on Wednesday, approached him and found him to allegedly be in possession of a quarter-ounce of marijuana, 10 grams of synthetic marijuana and packaging, weighing and smoking materials. The boy is not a Hazleton area student, police said.
• Eric J. Piacenti, 24, of Hazle Township, was arraigned on burglary and related charges before District Judge James Dixon and jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $50,000 bail after he allegedly broke into Tammy Romanchik’s garage on Coal Street and stole several items sometime between Wednesday and Thursday, state police said.
NICHOLSON TWP. — State police said Lavina L. Kiernan, 50 of Nicholson, Wyoming County reported a circular saw and extension cord were stolen from her residence on Lenape Lane between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. on April 6.
MONROE TWP. — State police investigated a crash at approximately 11:45 a.m. Saturday on state Rout 292 in Wyoming County.
Deborah Holzinger, 58, of Monroe Township suffered moderate injures and was transported to a local hospital for treatment. State police said Holzinger was traveling east on the roadway in a 1999 Isuzu Rodeo. She was going around a left curve, went off the roadway and into a ditch, rolling over, state police said.
TEXAS TWP. — A state police fire marshal is investigating the cause of fire Saturday in Wayne County.
The fire at a building housing several businesses on state Route 6 was discovered by passing motorists around 9:20 p.m. Savannah’s Inspirational Woodwork and 2 Cousins Construction sustained major damage.
Other businesses sustained smoke and water damage. The businesses were closed at the time and there were no injuries. The fire does not appear to be suspicious. Anyone with information about the blaze is asked to contact the state police fire marshal unit at 570 963-3156.
WILKES-BARRE — Police reported the following:
• Isiah Tillman, 32, Plymouth was cited for public drunkenness after police saw him drinking alcoholic beverage from an open container at 11:50 p.m. Saturday in the area of Schiel’s Market on Hanover Street. Tillman was intoxicated and a danger to himself. He was taken to police headquarters, held until sober and released.
• Police are investigating a burglary at an apartment on West River Street. The tenant, a 27-year-old man, said he arrived home at 2 a.m. Saturday and discovered that his PlayStation 4 was stolen. He said his apartment was locked and believed that only building management have access. There are several leads and the investigation is ongoing.