Burglar With Knife Demanded Cigarettes, Police Say

By Tom Coombe

Bethlehem police say a city man sliced open another man's window screen with a kitchen knife and demanded cigarettes early Saturday.

Jose Ortiz Benabe, 28, of 608 Fiot St., is charged with burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, public drunkenness, institutional vandalism,and disorderly conduct.

According to court records, officers were called to the 400 block of Wyandotte Street around 1:37 a.m. Saturday after getting reports of a man threatening another man with a pair of knives.

Witnesses told police Benabe allegedly tried to get into the front door of one home, then crossed the street, sliced open a screen, stuck his head inside and demanded cigarettes.

Police say they found Benabe hiding under a car, and he had to be dragged out to be taken into custody.

He struggled with police, court records say, and spit blood onto the divider inside the police car.

Benabe was arraigned before on-duty District Judge Daniel Corpora in Easton, and sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $15,000 bail.