Crime News

Police: Rite Aid Clerk Used Customer's Credit Cards

Store employee accused of taking wallet off of counter and using a debit and credit card to spend more than $1,300.

  An employee of the Rite Aid drug store in South Bethlehem is accused of taking credit cards from a wallet left on a store counter and using them to make more than $1,300 in purchases over the next three days, according to court papers. Genesis Lee Rodriguez, 21, of 929 Sullivan St., Bethlehem, is facing three felony counts, including forgery, for allegedly signing the name of her victim, Lehigh University student Rujun Wang, court records say. According to the arrest warrant, the events unfolded like this: Wang discovered multiple unauthorized charges to his debit card and a credit card on Aug. 30 and reported those discrepancies to Lehigh University Police. Through an investigation, Lehigh Police were able to determine that Wang had …

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Crime News

Police: SouthSide Man Lied to Get Pain Medicine

Bethlehem man scammed on-call dentists to get them to prescribe pain medication over the telephone, police say.

  For about three weeks, Thomas Gebhardt’s scheme to get pain medication from dentists -- for visits he never made and procedures he never had -- was working. The Bethlehem man told police that he called dentist offices after they closed for the day, spoke to “on-call doctors” and convinced them that the medication prescribed wasn’t working. The on-call doctors then called in prescriptions to the CVS at 305 W. Fourth St. – two blocks from Gebhardt’s SouthSide home, court records say. Seven dentists were involved. Gebhardt, 33, received his first prescription on May 27 for 30 tablets of hydrocodone-acetaminophen. He also had prescriptions filled on May 30, June 4, June 7, June 13 and June 17, mostly for hydrocodone-acetaminophen. But on …

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2 Men Accused of Cheating at Poker at Sands

Cuban-born casino visitors allegedly caught exchanging cards at Texas Hold 'Em table.

  Two Cuban-born men were arrested for allegedly cheating while playing Texas Hold ‘Em Poker at the Sands Casino on Friday afternoon, according to court records from the office of District Judge David Tidd.   Jose L. Rodriguez, 46, of the 7400 block of West 20th Avenue, Hialeah, Fla., and Sandro Alonso, 38, of the 100 block of 77th St., North Bergen, N.J., were arrested after Sands security surveilled them and allegedly observed them switching cards during four separate hands while playing the game.   “Texas Hold 'Em poker is a game in which the patron plays against several other patrons, with the cards dealt by the dealer,” state police explained in the criminal complaint. “The dealer deals two cards to each player … with various betting …

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Police: Debit Card Text Messages Are a Scam

Bogus text messages attempt to get debit card numbers, PINs and other personal identification, police say.

If you receive a text message informing you there is a problem with your debit card and to call an included phone number immediately, don't answer it, says the Bethlehem Police Department. It's a scam. In a blog post today, the department warns a number of area residents have received such texts on their cell phones. The number, with a 650 area code, is a fake too, and calls to it reveal that the message it yields changes often, with it alternating between Sovereign Bank and Sun Trust Bank, police added. The scam is an attempt to get debit card numbers, PINs and other personal identification, police say. They added, “Banks do not contact their customers in this manner. Please do not give anyone your bank account information over the phone…

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