The owner of a Bethlehem Township spa and salon fraudulently used debit card numbers of two of her customers, according to a criminal complaint filed by police on Monday. Tocara Davis, 28, the owner of Seriously Girlie Couture at 2485 Willow Park Road, was charged with four counts of access device fraud—two felonies and two misdemeanors. According to the criminal complaint, Davis took two unauthorized charges—for a total of $1,672—from the debit card of a couple that had purchased a party for their daughter at the spa. The couple paid $86, with the debit card, for the party on Dec. 28. One …
A Queens, New York man who marked his 63rd birthday over the weekend admitted he punched out a slot machine at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem early Monday, leaving the casino with a $1,510 bill for a replacement video display screen. A criminal complaint filed against the suspect, John Kim of the Woodside section of the borough, does not say what prompted him to allegedly punch the slot machine. It does say that surveillance video shows Kim punching the machine around 12:58 a.m. Surveillance also spotted Kim in the casino parking lot waiting for a departing bus. Police were dispatched …
A man who spent 18 years on Pennsylvania’s Most Wanted list pleaded guilty on Friday to a 1994 murder in a South Bethlehem parking lot. Francisco G. Miranda, 50, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder, according to published reports. Under the terms of a plea bargain, Miranda will serve the maximum sentence that would have been allowed at the time of the murder, according to The Morning Call. Miranda eluded authorities for 18 years while he lived in the Dominican Republic but he didn’t flee the country on his own, the newspaper reported…
A man walked into the men’s department at The Bon-Ton at the Westgate Mall, took out a black garbage bag, stuffed it with about 50 Izod shirts, then walked out of the store, Bethlehem police said. Today, police released a surveillance photo of the man and is asking for the public’s help in finding the thief. The stolen shirts are valued at about $1,400. The incident occurred at about 1:45 p.m. Monday. Anyone with information is asked to call the Bethlehem Police Department at 610-865-7187.
Easton police say a Bethlehem man got married in the city earlier this year despite already being married to another woman.Edward Odin, 50, of the 1400 block of W. Broad Street, is charged with bigamy and unsworn falsification.According to court records, Odin's wife contacted police in late January to say that her husband had married another woman.She provided police with a copy of her marriage certificate to Odin from New York City.Police said they went to Northampton County and found a marriage license documenting Odin's marriage to the second woman from January. According to police, Odin…
Bethlehem police raided a South Side home early Tuesday morning and arrested a man and a woman on multiple felony drug charges, law enforcement officials said. Police brought a search warrant to 1135½ E. Third St., the home of Ramon A. Headley, 29, and Desiree Helena Bostic, 24, as a result of an investigation into illegal narcotics sales, police said. The raid and search was done at a little after 6 a.m. Inside, police found quantities of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy, police said. A child, the daughter of Headley and Bostic, was also inside the home and had the cocaine and ecstasy …
Bethlehem police called to a Third Avenue home for a domestic dispute found “large” amounts of marijuana and heroin, a stolen gun and $9,000 cash, police said. The drugs, gun and cash, along with two cars, a motorcycle, two more guns and drug paraphernalia were all seized as part of the investigation, police said. Alexander Bernardini, 42, 419 Third Ave., Bethlehem, was charged with multiple felony counts including three counts of possession with intent to deliver drugs, three counts of prohibited possession of firearms and one count of receiving stolen property. He was also charged with …
A woman came after her sister with a kitchen knife in a South Bethlehem apartment then resisted arrest after police arrived, according to court papers. Xesenia Vives Martinez, 24, of Philadelphia, kicked the side of a squad car as police tried to put her inside, causing a dent in the door and other damage, police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. Police responded to a second-floor apartment at 1307 E. Fourth St. at a little after 4 p.m. Thursday on a report of women fighting with knives, according to the affidavit written by arresting Officer Joshua John Schnalzer. The victim, Martinez…
A Hellertown man made more than $35,000 in less than 10 months by selling scrap metal he—with some help—had stolen from railroad cars parked in South Bethlehem and decommissioned electrical transmission towers on South Mountain, Bethlehem police said. On Friday, Corey C. Merwarth, 34, of 13 E. Depot St., was arrested and charged with multiple felony theft and conspiracy counts and sent to prison in lieu of $20,000 bail. Court records say Merwarth is a "known heroin addict with an extensive criminal history." The investigation that led to Merwarth’s arrest began in September when Bethlehem …
A Bethlehem man who was part of a million dollar crystal methamphetamine ring was sentenced Friday to five to 10 years in prison for his crimes, according to published reports. Anthony “Skinny” Serratore, 36, of 1801 Chester Road was one of six men arrested in October for being one of six leaders of a Lehigh Valley-wide ring that distributed as much as one pound of crystal meth a week with a street value of about $90,000. Serratore pleaded guilty in March to two charges with the understanding that his minimum sentence would be four years, according to The Express Times. But Judge Paula …
A South Bethlehem man was arrested for buying a stolen pistol from a 14-year-old boy accused of stealing three guns and ammunition from an Amplex Street home in a Monday burglary, according to court papers and Bethlehem police. Miguel A. Torres, 27, of 218 Hobart St., was charged with two felonies for buying a stolen weapon. The 14-year-old, who was not identified because of his age, is also facing multiple charges, police said. The burglary of the home on Amplex Street occurred while the victim was at work, police said. Stolen were a 9mm handgun with magazine and bullets, a .22-caliber …
Bethlehem police were forced to chase a teenager who ran when an officer tried to pick him up off the streets of the Marvine-Pembroke neighborhood on a warrant Wednesday afternoon, according to court papers. As a result, Nixon Joel Montalvo-Velez, 19, of 1370 Fritz Drive, is facing more serious charges of escape and resisting arrest and he is in prison. According to an arrest affidavit, Officer Erik M. Kaintz spotted Montalvo-Velez walking along the 1200 block of Woodbine Street at about 12:40 p.m. Kaintz stopped his patrol car, got out and instructed Montalvo-Velez to stay where he was. …
A South Bethlehem couple who left their 10-month-old daughter in the care of a nephew and his friend returned home to find their infant home alone and that they had been cleaned out of $1,500 cash, a laptop computer and a video game system, police said. The friend, William Torres-Approvato, 19, and listed as homeless on court documents, was arrested on Monday and charged with theft, receiving stolen property and endangering the welfare of children. The nephew, Dylan Bright, who according to court papers is also homeless, remains at large. The incident happened April 1 at about 8 p.m. when the…
A contractor who was paid more than $6,000 to renovate a bathroom in Northeast Bethlehem used most of that money to pay off personal debt rather than for materials needed for the job, police said. Daniel N. Diaz, 42, of 5197 Spruce Road in Upper Milford Township, told police that he was “robbing Peter to pay Paul” in an effort to catch up to child support payments and other debts, according to an arrest affidavit. Diaz was arrested Tuesday and charged with home improvement fraud, theft and receiving stolen property—all felonies. He is free on $20,000 bail following his arraignment before …
If you find unattended money at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, don’t pick it up—unless you are aiming to end your night in jail. Steven Lynn Harpel, 59, of Souderton is finding this out the hard way. According to Pennsylvania State Police gaming control officers, Harpel stumbled onto $1,280 that had inadvertently been left in a jackpot machine by a casino attendant. Harpel then took the money and left the casino, troopers said. According to the arrest affidavit, the incident, which occurred on April 24, was captured on video and Harpel was identified through his Sands Casino player’s …
An employee of the Cigars International warehouse in South Bethlehem is accused of stealing a box of deluxe cigar lighters worth $12,000 retail, Bethlehem police said. Robert Torres, 43, of 85 W. Ettwein St., Bethlehem, was caught in the act stealing a box of 120 $100-lighters by the warehouse facilities manager, according to an arrest affidavit. Michael Schenk, the facilities manager, told police that he was hiding inside the warehouse with a vantage point that allowed him to view a pallet of Bugatti B-1 Torch Lighters when he saw Torres take them before 6 a.m. Sunday, the affidavit says. …
A New Jersey man wanted by Bethlehem police since mid-April for allegedly hiding a 16-year-old city girl was arrested Monday. Maximo Nunez, 46, of Trenton, allegedly took Johany Javier from her Randolf Road home in the Marvine-Pembroke neighborhood between midnight and 8 a.m. on April 17 without the permission of her legal guardian, police said. In an affidavit of probable cause, Officer Jeffrey Fehr wrote that he spoke to Nunez and the girl by telephone at a little after 9 p.m. on the day she left. Fehr wrote that he asked Nunez to return Johany and he said: “That is up to her.” They both …
A Bethlehem man wanted for his part in a shooting last month in the Marvine-Pembroke section of the city surrendered to police on Friday, police said. Angelo Lopez, 38, of 612 Fiot St., was charged with attempted criminal homicide in the April 22 shooting on the 1400 block of Marvine Street, which critically wounded 34-year-old Kinte King. Dan David Hernandez, 28, the man who witnesses say pulled the trigger, has not been apprehended, police said. According to an affidavit of probable cause: A witness told police that Hernandez had made a telephone call to him asking him to go with him …
A Bethlehem ran behind a Zionsville man on N. New Street and punched him in the head numerous times, even after the victim was lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding, police said. Ronnie Tarik Pernier, 22, of 635 N. New St., was charged with aggravated assault—a felony--and other charges as a result. Two eyewitnesses told police they saw the attack unfold after 11 p.m. last Tuesday on the 600 block of N. New Street, according to an affidavit of probable cause. According to the first witness: Pernier ran up behind the victim and punched him in the back of the head with a closed fist. …
A man brandishing a silver-and-black pocket knife in a Bethlehem neighborhood ran toward another man while yelling “I’m gonna poke you,” prompting the victim to jump into his girlfriend’s car for protection, court records say. The accused, Tyler James Grays, 22, of Easton, then kicked the rear driver’s side door, causing a 12-inch-to-15-inch dent and $600 in damage, the records say. The records do not say what may have prompted the incident at 3 p.m. Tuesday on the 1300 block of Eastwood Road in Marvine-Pembroke. The other man told police he “quickly” jumped into his girlfriend’s 2012 Hyundai…
