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Lester Lynn, the firefighter who foiled a bank robbery at Omega Bank, Lake Township, is thanked by bank manager Denise Holzman.
Fred Adams /The times Leader
LAKE TWP. – A Sweet Valley firefighter was presented with a gift card on Friday for his role in stopping a bank robbery at an Omega Bank branch on Dec. 13.
Officials with Omega Bank presented Lester Lynn, of Sweet Valley, a $100 gift card to Cabela’s during a brief ceremony at the bank at state routes 29 and 118.
Lynn was driving near the bank at about 3:45 p.m. when he noticed a suspicious man outside the building. Lynn alerted state police Trooper James Knott who also noticed the man outside the bank.
Knott, who was driving on Route 29 near the bank, turned around and questioned the man who was identified as Darl George Gearhart Jr., 54, of Gates Street, Wilkes-Barre. Gearhart initially said he was walking in the area because he was looking to pick mushrooms. He later admitted that he planned to rob the bank, according to arrest papers.
Gearhart was charged with criminal attempt to commit robbery, possessing instruments of crime and resisting arrest. He is awaiting a preliminary hearing in Central Court on Jan. 3.