Crime & Safety
Police: Trespasser Holding Marijuana Tried to Flee
Suspect who had been banned from Bethlehem Housing Authority property had large amount of cash and marijuana, police said.
A man listed as homeless had a “large amount of cash” and a quantity of marijuana in his pants pockets when city police on mountain bikes caught up with him late Friday in Marvine-Pembroke.
The two officers were pursuing the suspect, Joseph Anthony Wilson, 20, because he is banned from being on property, court records say.
The records do not say why he has been banned from BHA property, but the records say Wilson has been arrested before for violating the ban.
The officers, meanwhile, spotted Wilson on the 1200 block of Woodbine Street around 11pm.
”We looked Wilson in the face and told him to stop,” Officer Zachary A. Beals wrote in a criminal complaint. Wilson had crossed over from Woodbine and was walking toward Marvine Street when the officers confronted him.
Wilson looked at the officers and started running between housing units back onto Woodbine. He crossed such streets as Howard, Hilton and Harry before running onto the parking lot of the building at 1520 Stefko Blvd.
Once in custody, Wilson was found to have bags of marijuana and the cash in the pockets of his cargo pants. Police also found a Boost cell phone on him.
Wilson was charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana – a felony, and misdemeanor charges of possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia, defiant trespass, escape and disorderly conduct.
He was arraigned Saturday by on-duty District Judge Joseph Barner of Lower Nazareth Township and committed to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $10,000 bail.
