'Serial Rapist' Allegedly Attacked Pregnant Teens, Linny Fowler Scammed out of $1M Top Bethlehem News

DA: 'Serial Rapist' Attacked 2 Pregnant Teens

David Martinez, the 20-year-old labeled a “serial rapist” by the Northampton County district attorney, was charged Wednesday with committing two more sexual assaults on teenage girls, both who were pregnant at the time of the alleged attacks. On Thursday, he faced a fifth set of charges in yet another case involving a teenage girl that police said he contacted through Facebook.

Shawnta Equana Carmon, 32, and Hassan Rahman Carmon, 34, both of Allentown, were charged with stealing more than $1.2 million from late Bethlehem philanthropist Linny Fowler on Friday. According to a Northampton County Grand Jury, the Carmons convinced the generous Fowler that they needed money for personal and familial medical expenses and college tuition. Instead, they used the generous gifts to buy expensive clothes and jewelry, to travel and to gamble, authorities say.

Puerto Rican Club Alleged Killer to Stand Trial

Rene Figueroa, 32, was ordered to stand trial in the Dec. 2 shooting death of 25-year-old Yolanda Morales of Bethlehem as a result of a preliminary hearing on Monday. Police say Figueroa fired a bullet into Morales's chest during a melee between two groups of people outside of the Puerto Rican Beneficial Society in South Bethlehem.

Police Searched Through Trash to Make Pot Bust

Bethlehem Township police looked through the trash of a suspected pot dealer twice before obtaining a search warrant to look through his home, court records say. As a result of that search warrant, Marcus Jamal McGriff, 24, of 3549 Skyline Drive, was taken into custody on drug charges, including felony possession with intent to deliver marijuana.

A SouthSide man carrying a machete and vowing to “teach his neighbor some respect” walked toward police and at first ignored their orders to put down the weapon before finally obeying, according to police. Police say the incident involving Horacio Vasquez, 46, occurred around 6 p.m. Tuesday near his home on the 1100 block of E. Fourth Street.

'Main Street Mayor' Gordon Mowrer Feted by City

On Tuesday, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan unveiled a brick wall and plaque in front of the fountain at Main and W. Market streets proclaiming Gordon Mowrer the “Main Street Mayor.” Mowrer, who was Bethlehem's mayor between 1974 and 1978 and again in 1987, is generally credited with putting a halt to planned urban renewal projects that would have put a wrecking ball to many buildings in Bethlehem’s historic downtown.