Crime News

Police Searched Through Trash to Make Pot Bust

After years of complaints about suspected drug activity on Skyline Drive, Bethlehem Township police go through trash to nab alleged pot dealer.

  Bethlehem Township police looked through the trash of a suspected pot dealer twice before obtaining a search warrant to look through his home on Friday, court records say. As a result of that search warrant, Marcus Jamal McGriff, 24, of 3549 Skyline Drive, was taken into custody on drug charges, including felony possession with intent to deliver marijuana. According to the affidavit of probable cause, township police had been receiving complaints about suspected drug activity at the Skyline Drive address since 2010. One of the people that had complained informed police on Thursday that there continued to be a steady stream of vehicles coming and going, staying for a short period of time and then leaving, the affidavit says. According to …

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Crime News

Pedestrian Hit by NCC Student's Car, Police Say

18-year-old driver told Bethlehem Township police she thought only the victim's purse had hit her side-view mirror.

  A Northampton Community College student is facing charges as a result of a November vehicle accident in which she struck a pedestrian – a fellow student – on a college crosswalk, according to court papers. Lindsey Janae Kizer, 18, of 4459 Oakwood Lane in Lower Nazareth Township was charged with accidents involving death or personal injury, failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians in a crosswalk, failing to render aid and failing to immediately notify police of an accident. The victim was not seriously hurt, suffering a sprained ankle when the car hit her left leg. Kizer was arraigned Thursday before District Judge Joseph Barner, Lower Nazareth Township, and released on $2,000 unsecured bail. The pedestrian was crossing Green Pond…

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Crime News

Facebook Tip Helps Cops Bust Suspected Jewel Thief

Anonymous tip posted to Bethlehem Township Police Facebook page leads them to man suspected of stealing jewelry from Wal-Mart.

  Bethlehem Township police say an anonymous Facebook tip led them to the man who allegedly stole $80 worth of jewelry from the Wal-Mart on Nazareth Pike. Billy R. Inman Jr., 36, of the 700 block of Center Street, Bethlehem, has been charged with a third-grade felony count of retail theft. He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $7,500 straight bail. According to court records, Bethlehem Township police were called to the Wal-Mart on Nazareth Pike (Route 191) on Jan. 15 for a report of a retail theft. Loss-prevention staff provided video surveillance, which showed a man taking merchandise from the jewelry counter. Bethlehem Township police posted two photos on the department’s Facebook page and asked for the public’s help in …

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Crime News

NCC Student Accused of Selling Pot from Dorm Room

Police find marijuana, paraphernalia in Northampton Community College dorm room. Student admits he had 10 to 15 regular customers buying drugs from him.

  A Northampton Community College student from York County, Pennsylvania, has been evicted from the college’s residence hall and suspended from classes and all campus activity after he admitted to selling marijuana -- for 10 to 15 regular customers -- out of his room. During an early-morning search of 20-year-old Andrew J. Arnold’s dorm room, court records say, Bethlehem Township police found more than 100 grams of suspected marijuana, four marijuana-smoking devices, sandwich baggies used to package marijuana, $176 and a small scale. Arnold, who hails from Felton Borough, was arraigned this morning before District Judge Joseph Barner of Lower Nazareth Township and charged with one count each of possession with intent to deliver a …

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Crime News

Police: Store Employee Stole Lottery Tickets, Cash

Teen employee of Easton Avenue Hess Express was allegedly captured on video taking money from a safe and lottery tickets out of a dispenser, Bethlehem Township police say.

  A 19-year-old employee of a Bethlehem Township gas station/convenience store has been charged with taking $600 in lottery tickets and $185 in cash from his employer. The alleged actions of Jacob Daniel Russ, of the 3200 block of Freemansburg Avenue, Palmer Township, were captured on surveillance video, court records say. The manager of the Hess Express at 3283 Easton Ave. told police the video shows Russ, a cashier at the store, removing the money from a “tac safe” around 9:40am Dec. 29, a Saturday. The “tac safe” stores a small amount of cash and coins under the cash registers in case cashiers need them, according to a criminal complaint filed by Bethlehem Township Patrolman Shaun Powell. The manager, who met with Powell on Friday (Jan…

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Crime News

Theft at Best Buy Leads to Felony Charge

Easton man accused of retail theft turns himself in after police trace his getaway car to his girlfriend.

  An Easton man has been charged with felony retail theft after he and an accomplice allegedly walked out of the Bethlehem Township Best Buy store with a camera, a cell phone and a PlayStation 3 video console without paying for them on Thursday afternoon, according to court records. David Bruce Althouse, 33, of 228 N. 14th St., was freed on unsecured bail after he turned himself in and provided police with a written confession of the theft later that same day, according to court records. Althouse, who according to the arrest affidavit has two prior retail theft convictions, was charged with felony grade retail theft and felony conspiracy. Police have a surveillance video of the thefts occurring. Also, a store employee who was outside on …

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Crime News

1,400 Packets of Heroin Found in Hotel Room

Maid found stash of heroin in Comfort Inn in Bethlehem Township on Thursday. One man is jailed while police look for the man who rented the room and reported his bag stolen.

  A maid at the Comfort Inn in Bethlehem Township found 1,400 packets of heroin in one of the hotel’s rooms on Thursday afternoon, according to court papers. As a result, Dominick Laborde, 24, with no current address, was arrested on Thursday and jailed on multiple counts. Police have also issued an arrest warrant for Maie I. Lee, 30, of Newark, N.J. who apparently fled just before police arrived, according to The Morning Call. Lee was renting the room where the drugs had been found, according to court papers. According the the arrest warrant for Laborde: Laborde was charged with possession with intent to deliver heroin, possession of heroin, two counts of criminal conspiracy, possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of …

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Police: Heroin Found Near Dead Strip Club Worker

Amy Soule, 26-year-old employee of Allentown gentlemen's club, was found nude in Bethlehem Township man's bed. Death still labeled suspicious.

Crime News

Police: Heroin Found Near Dead Strip Club Worker

Amy Soule, 26-year-old employee of Allentown gentlemen's club, was found nude in Bethlehem Township man's bed. Death still labeled suspicious.

  Police found heroin in the bedroom of a suburban Bethlehem Township home where a young woman was found dead Wednesday afternoon, according to court records. Law enforcement authorities initially labeled the death suspicious, but have said little since. Northampton County Coroner Zach Lysek told The Express Times that the name of the deceased is Amy Soule, 26, of Howard Street in Allentown, an employee of the Platinum Plus Gentleman’s Club on Airport Road, also in Allentown. While an autopsy was completed today, Lysek said he is awaiting test results before releasing a cause and manner of the young woman’s death. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli would not comment on the investigation. According a search warrant …

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