Police: Man Stole Diamonds and Money from Bethlehem Township Home

A man may not have been telling the truth when he told his female friend he walked home to Wilson from her Bethlehem Township address after a night at the Sands casino.

That’s because police – looking into a theft at the woman’s home – said they discovered the man took a taxi to 17th Street and Fairview Avenue and paid for it with a $100 bill and gave the driver a $10 tip.

Police say the $100 bill came from $2,000 the man – Channing Reynolds, 37 – allegedly took from the woman’s home, court records say. He's also accused of taking $75 from her wallet.

Reynolds also is accused of taking four loose diamonds – valued at $10,000 – from the woman’s home on the 3500 block of New Hampshire Avenue, the records say.

The distance between the New Hampshire Avenue home and 17th and Fairview is between 3.5 and 3.9 miles, according to mapquest.com.

The incident was in mid-July. On Friday night, Reynolds was arraigned on charges of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. He was committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $15,000 bail.

The records do not explain the time gap between the July incident and Friday’s arraignment.

What happened back in July is detailed in a criminal complaint filed by Bethlehem Township Investigator Stephen B. Malitzski Jr. According to the complaint:

• The woman filed a report July 16 alleging that Reynolds took the cash and diamonds on July 14, a Saturday. The complaint said the woman and Reynolds left the previous evening to gamble and have a few drinks at the Sands casino in south Bethlehem.
• They returned to her home around 2:30 a.m. They had another drink. The woman said she fell asleep around 3:30 a.m. and that Reynolds was still there. She awoke around 5 a.m. and he wasn’t there.
• She went back to sleep and awoke around 8 a.m. She retrieved her wallet and found $75 she had inside was missing. She then went to a cash box and saw that the $2,000 that had been inside was also missing, as were four loose diamonds valued at $10,000. The $2,000 was in $100 bills.
• Malitzski learned that Reynolds may have been living in the area of 17th and Fairview in Wilson. The woman, meanwhile, said Reynolds told her he had no money that night and asked her for some. She said she lent him $125 at the casino.
• She said Reynolds was supposed to pay for the taxi ride back to her home. It turns out Reynolds had no money left from a night at the casino and the woman had to pay the taxi fare.
• The woman sent a text message to Reynolds on July 14, asking how he got home. He replied he walked. She also texted him the next day and in his reply he “indirectly admits to taking the money” and offered to come to her house to return it.
• Malitzski later contacted Easton Taxi Service. He was told a driver picked up a fare – a male in his 30s – at 4:06 a.m. at the New Hampshire Avenue home and took him to Fairview Avenue. The man paid the fare with a $100 bill and left a $10 tip. The complaint does not give the amount of the fare.

Reynolds was arraigned by on-duty District Judge David Tidd of Lower Saucon Township.