Crime & Safety
Man Charged with Theft Tells Police He Needed Christmas Gifts
The following information was supplied by Bethlehem Township police in court documents. Arrests do not indicate a conviction.
A 20-year-old Monroe County man told police he tried to steal $600 in video games because “he had no monies and wanted Christmas presents,” court records say.
Gerald Walter Squier of Brodheadsville, speaking to police during the incident at the Best Buy in Bethlehem Township, said he is addicted to “assorted pain medications,” the records say.
The store manager told township Patrolman Andrew R. Keyock Sunday afternoon he watched Squier place 10 digital video games valued at $59.99 each in a black backpack he brought into the store, according to the court documents.
Squier told Keyock he was driven to the store in the Southmont Center at Route 33 and Freemansburg Avenue by a friend who was waiting outside. The records do not identify the friend or say if that person was charged.
Squier also said he is unemployed and moved back to Pennsylvania from New Jersey two months ago.
He was arraigned later Sunday by on-duty District Judge David Tidd of Lower Saucon Township on a charge of retail theft and released on $10,000 unsecured bail.
