Crime & Safety

From Court to Casino, Accused Trespasser Returns

His trial for trespassing at the Sands Casino delayed, Massachusetts man leaves courtroom and goes straight to casino that had banned him from premises in July, police say.

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A Massachusetts man in Bethlehem to answer charges of trespassing at the Sands Casino Resort after he had been banned returned to the casino Wednesday less than an hour after his scheduled district court trial was postponed, city police said.

Casino security personnel, who were scheduled to testify at the trial, followed Chun Zhu, 47, of Quincy, to the casino hotel where he was confronted and subsequently arrested by Bethlehem police for misdemeanor defiant trespass at a little after noon.

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Instead of the casino hotel, Zhu found accommodations at Northampton County Prison, where he was committed after failing to post $5,000 bail.

Zhu’s summary trial before District Judge Patricia Romig-Passaro, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday was postponed when no Chinese language interpreter was available, according to The Express-Times.

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Zhu was then excused pending a future court date. But he soon found himself back in front of Romig-Passaro after he showed up at the casino hotel.

Zhu was banned from the casino in July, but was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police earlier this month on a summary trespassing charge, city police said.


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