Stolen Car, Alleged Thief Tracked to Poconos, Police Say

By Jack Tobias

A city man who stole a Lexus that was unlocked and running on E. Broad Street Friday night was caught inside the car about two hours later at the entrance to a private housing development in the Poconos, court records say.

Once back in the city, the man injured two officers trying to escape police custody, the records say.

At one point, when a city officer talked to Dimitri Ikeem Wesley, 21, the suspected car thief "made an excited utterance that he had gotten lost while driving his friend's car," the records also say.

A criminal complaint filed by city Officer Nathan Yadlosky also says:

• Shortly after 10 Friday night, city Officer Thomas Somerville took a stolen vehicle report from the area of 14 E. Broad St.

• A man told Somerville he left his silver 2005 Lexus ES 300, valued at $5,700, unlocked and running. When he returned, the car was gone. The man's iPhone was inside the vehicle.

• About 90 minutes later, two other city officers went to the car owner's house where he was tracking his iPhone. The phone apparently indicated a location in Carbon County.

• City police talked with a Carbon County dispatcher, who relayed information about the stolen Lexus to two Kidder Township police officers.

• Around 12:07 a.m., police from Kidder, Jim Thorpe and Franklin Township stopped the Lexus on Route 903 north at the entrance to the Towamensing Trails development in Penn Forest Township.

• Wesley, of 426 Hayes St. on Bethlehem's South Side, was brought back to the city and arraigned on charges that included felony counts of theft by unlawful taking and disposition and receiving stolen property. The charges also said he did not have a valid driver's license.

• Around 6:30 a.m., while he was awaiting transport to Northampton County Prison, Wesley ran out of the cell block inside City Hall. He was captured, but his actions led to two officers being injured. The complaint does not describe the nature of the injuries.

• Wesley was arraigned again, this time on a felony charge of escape. On-duty District Judge Diane Marakovits of Northampton, who handled the arraignments, committed Wesley to county prison in lieu of $10,000 bail for the car theft charges and $50,000 for the escape charge.