Crime News

Spa Owner Used Customers' Debit Card Numbers, Police Say

Owner of Seriously Girlie Couture is accused of making fraudulent charges, paying personal bills with customer debit cards, according to police complaint.

  The owner of a Bethlehem Township spa and salon fraudulently used debit card numbers of two of her customers, according to a criminal complaint filed by police on Monday. Tocara Davis, 28, the owner of Seriously Girlie Couture at 2485 Willow Park Road, was charged with four counts of access device fraud—two felonies and two misdemeanors. According to the criminal complaint, Davis took two unauthorized charges—for a total of $1,672—from the debit card of a couple that had purchased a party for their daughter at the spa. The couple paid $86, with the debit card, for the party on Dec. 28. One unauthorized charge for $686 was made on Dec. 31 and another for $986 was made on Jan. 11, the complaint said. The couple told police that Davis …

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Crime News

Major Meth Stash Found in Wall Safe: Police

Bethlehem Township police find drugs, paraphernalia in safe while executing a search warrant at Second Street home, according to court papers.

  Bethlehem Township police found a stash of methamphetamine hidden in the safe of a Second Street home where they executed a search warrant on Friday, according to court records. Thomas Eugene Lenner, 35, who lives in the house at 1822 Second St., was charged with felony possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and other drug charges. Township police executed the search warrant at Lenner’s home at 6:20 a.m. Friday, though the affidavit of probable cause does not explain what led to the warrant issue. The safe where the drugs were found was hidden in a wall behind a mirror in a second-floor bedroom, the affidavit said. In the safe, according to the affidavit, police found a quantity of methamphetamine, along with two foil strips …

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Woman Had Crack in Bra, Cash in Panties, Police Say

Wilson borough woman faces drug charges after making alleged drug sale at Bethlehem Township shopping center, according to arrest affidavit.

  A Wilson borough woman allegedly sold crack cocaine to a confidential police informant Tuesday afternoon at the T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant in the Southmont Shopping Center, Bethlehem Township police said. Antoinette Desiree Motley, 24, of 900 S. 24th St., was the target of an investigation of township and Freemansburg borough police, which arranged for the meeting between the accused and the confidential informant, according to the arrest affidavit. Police officers stopped Motley in her car not long after the alleged drug transaction and took her into custody, the affidavit says. At Bethlehem Township police headquarters, Motley was strip-searched by a female Northampton County Prison corrections officer who found baggies holding …

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Crime News

Walmart Teen Workers Stole $57,000 in Electronics, Police Say

Two Bethlehem 19-year-olds charged with taking part in theft of electronics and other merchandise from the Linden Street Walmart.

  Two former Walmart employees accused of being a part of a ring that stole more than $57,000 in electronics and other items from the Linden Street store were arraigned on multiple charges Tuesday. Jared Lugo and Gabriel Pozo, both 19 and from Bethlehem city, allegedly participated in a scam in which an employee at a cash register would execute a fake sale of an item, taking no money for the item, walk the customer out past store security and into the parking lot where they would take a cash payment for the sale. None of the money was returned to Walmart, according to Bethlehem Township police, which is investigating and prosecuting the case. A variety of items—most of them electronics—were stolen using this method, according to court …

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Crime News

Man Stole $200 with 'Sleight of Hand,' Police Say

Bethlehem man fooled Walmart cashier with bill exchange scheme, according to criminal complaint.

A city man with a “lengthy criminal history” used some “sleight of hand” on a cashier at the Linden Street Walmart in February that allowed him to walk out with almost $200 more than when he came in, court records say. Alfredo Cancel-Maisonet, 33, reappeared on Bethlehem Township police’s radar screen Monday afternoon on the 4900 block of Freemansburg Avenue. And before the day was over, he would be in Northampton County Prison. Cancel-Maisonet had been stopped by police from Pohatcong Township, N.J., who were pursuing him as a retail theft suspect. According to the complaint: Fox’s complaint also says Cancel-Maisonet has a “lengthy criminal history, which includes bail jumping and numerous theft offenses.” He is also the subject of a “non…

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Crime News

Masked Gunmen Invade Home, Rob Occupants: Police

2 men brandishing handguns rob 7 people of cash and cell phones during late-night home invasion in Miller Heights section of Bethlehem Township, police say.

  Two masked gunmen entered a Miller Heights home late Tuesday night and robbed seven occupants of “personal items” including cash and cell phones, Bethlehem Township police said. The robbers left the house at 2219 Fifth St. without physically harming anyone, police said. The incident took place just before 11:30 p.m. The robbers were each described as being about 5-foot-9 with slender builds. Each was wearing a red bandana to cover their faces and both brandished handguns. According to a news release from the township police department, the “initial investigation suggests that the event was isolated to the residence and that there is no immediate threat to neighbors of the homeowner.” Police identified the home’s resident as 21-year-old …

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Crime News

Limo Driver Stole $850 From His Boss, Police Say

Bethlehem man is accused of cashing two checks he was not authorized to cash while his boss was out of the country, according to court papers.

A limousine driver is accused of taking advantage of his boss for about $850 while the boss, whose business is in Bethlehem Township, traveled for two weeks out of the country in September. Court records say the driver, Anthony Alexander, 26, of Bethlehem cashed without authorization one of seven checks the boss had entrusted to him while he drove the boss to JFK International Airport in New York. Alexander is accused of making the check payable to himself and filling in the amount—$360. Police later learned Alexander had a man he knows cash the check. The man told police he had no idea the check was “stolen.” The boss, Thomas Pfeiffer, owner of Valley Limousine Service, had pre-signed the checks but had not filled in any names or amounts…

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Crime News

Township Man Slammed Wife's Head on Driveway: Police

Wife returned to couple's 12th Street home days after fight and breakup when husband allegedly grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the ground.

A Bethlehem Township man is accused of slamming his wife's head into their driveway during a fight Saturday. Kevin Dollak, 49, of 1614 12th St., is charged with simple assault and harassment. Township police say Dollak's wife had left their home last week after an argument. He convinced her to come back, police say, by asking for money that she owed him from their joint account. When the wife arrived at the house, Dollak allegedly came outside, grabbed her by the hair, and banged her head into their driveway. Police say Dollak admitted grabbing his wife's hair, but denied the rest of the attack. He was arraigned before on-duty District Judge Daniel Corpora in Easton, and was free on $5,000 bail.

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Crime News

Woman Stole Grandmother's Jewelry, Police Say

23-year-old Bethlehem woman with criminal record is charged with stealing jewelry valued at $9,000 from her grandmother's bedroom.

  On the last day of February, a Bethlehem Township woman discovered that almost $9,000 of her “fine” jewelry was missing from her bedroom jewel case. Among those in her family she alerted that day was her granddaughter, Nicole Kathleen Werner. In fact, she met with Werner, 23, a student at Northampton Community College who works at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem, court records say. Later that day, the records say, Werner called back her grandmother and admitted she took the jewelry from the older woman’s home on the 3400 block of Drighton Court. The grandmother, Kathleen Matweecha, told township Patrolman Andrew R. Keyock “she struggled with the situation for several weeks” before notifying police on the day she and Keyock talked—Thursday (…

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Crime News

Jodi Arias Evoked in Girlfriend's Threat, Police Say

Bethlehem Township woman threatened to 'do' her boyfriend like defendant in high-profile Arizona murder trial, according to police complaint.

  The explosive Arizona murder trial of a woman accused of stabbing and shooting her former boyfriend apparently has made an impression on a Bethlehem Township woman. Police say the local woman, Latoya Sophia Mitchell, 28, picked up a kitchen knife during an argument with her boyfriend about household chores Wednesday night and threatened to “do him like the lady did to her boyfriend on the news.” A criminal complaint said she was referring to the homicide trial in Mesa, Ariz., although it did not name the suspect – Jodi Arias. According to reports, police in Arizona say Arias, 32, stabbed her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, 27 times, slit his throat and shot him in the head as he showered in his Mesa home in June 2008. Arias is claiming …

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