Crime & Safety
Man Forged, Cashed Father's Checks, Police Say
Bethlehem Township Police have also charged accused with illegal possession of Xanax.
—This post was written and reported by Jack Tobias
A 40-year-old Bethlehem Township man accused of forging and cashing two of his father’s checks last week was found around noon Thursday on the golf course of Northampton Country Club with two dozen anti-anxiety pills, according to court records.
Court records say Raymond Edward Ostrander Jr., of 3853 Chipman Road, was spotted at a golf course water station near Bethman Road in the township.
In the area where Ostrander was found, police discovered a plastic baggie with 24 pills of Alprazolam, also known as Xanax. The dosage of each pill was 2 mg, the records say.
After the suspect was taken to police headquarters Thursday, he admitted to forging and cashing two of his father’s checks last week, the records say.
Ostrander cashed a forged $250 check on June 14 and a forged $200 check on June 15 – both at Lafayette Ambassador Bank, 4001 William Penn Highway, Palmer Township, the records say.
On June 13, Ostrander told his father that he had just gotten a job fixing trailers in Ocean City, N.J., according to the records.
Bethlehem Township Patrolman Shaun Powell, who filed a criminal complaint for the golf course incident, said he was dispatched to the 3700 block of Tiffany Dirve shortly before noon Thursday on a report of a suspicious person who left on a bicycle.
About 10 minutes later, Powell spotted the person—the suspect—at the golf course water station. Ostrander told Powell he lives with his father and stepmother at the Chipman Road address.
The stepmother, meanwhile, later told police that Ostrander hasn’t lived there for more than 30 days.
Police found the Xanax pills on the ground in the plastic baggie, the complaint says.
A separate complaint, written by township Patrolman Anthony Stevens, was filed in the checks case.
In the golf course incident, Ostrander was charged with possession of a controlled substance. In the checks case, he was charged with two counts of forgery—both level-two felonies—and one count each of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.
He was arraigned Thursday by District Judge Joseph Barner of Lower Nazareth Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $1,500 bail in the golf course incident and $5,000 bail in the checks case.
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