Crime News

Homeless Machete Attacker Gets 4½ to 9 Years in Jail

Levine Koerner pleads guilty to aggravated assault in machete attack on other homeless man near Bethlehem. Prosecutors drop attempted homicide charge.

A homeless man who slashed another homeless man in the face with a machete in a tent city just north of Schoenersville Road was sentenced Thursday to four-and-a-half to nine years in a state prison, according to published reports. Levine H. Koerner, 58, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the Nov. 19 attack on 42-year-old Richard Heilman, according to The Morning Call. Northampton County prosecutors dropped a charged of attempted homicide because neither the victim nor a witness, who also was homeless, could be located by police for a January preliminary hearing, the newspaper reported. When authorities arrived at the scene of the attack, Heilman was “bleeding profusely from a large gaping wound to the right side of his face,” police …

• Photos (1)

Crime News

Homeless Woman Slept in Downtown Lobby

42-year-old woman charged with trespassing after police found her curled up and sleeping in the lobby of building just off of Main Street.

  A homeless woman who told police she has been sleeping in a Historic District office building to stay out of the cold has been charged with criminal trespass and for now will be sleeping inside Northampton County Prison. Elizabeth Jean Rivera, 42, was found early Thursday “curled up, covered with a blanket and sleeping in a small alcove on the bottom floor of the building” at 79 W. Market St., according to a criminal complaint filed by Bethlehem police Officer Michelle Dologite. The building, which is just west of Historic Main Street, houses CRB Properties, the complaint says. Dologite writes that she and another officer were assigned to check 79 W. Market St. for “homeless persons” sleeping in the building. A person connected to CRB …

•  23 Comments
• Photos (1)

Inga Eula

8:00 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013

Thank you. I couldn't remember the website   more ›

Homeless Man in Viral Photo has Family in Lehigh Valley

Brother of the homeless man who was photographed being given a pair of boots by a NYC police officer lives in Plainfield Township and works at an Easton church.

  The family of Jeffrey Hillman, the homeless man who was photographed being given a pair of boots by a New York City police officer, is connected to the Lehigh Valley, according to multiple media reports. Kirk Hillman, who has been identified as Jeffrey’s brother by the New York Post and Yahoo!, lives in Plainfield Township with his wife, Tish. They both work at the Greater Shiloh Church in Easton, according to Kirk Hillman's LinkedIn page and the church's website. Kirk Hillman told the New York Post that he hasn’t talked to his younger sibling in about a year. “Jeffrey has his own life, and he has chosen that life, but he knows that our hearts and home are always open to him,” Alegra Hall, Kirk Hillman’s daughter, told the New York Post…

• Photos (1)

Crime News

Homeless Man Charged in Machete Attack

Argument between two homeless men near Schoenersville Road leads to one hitting the other in the face with a machete, according to police. Attempted homicide charge filed.

  A homeless man who most recently slept in a wooded area just north of Schoenersville Road was jailed after he allegedly struck another homeless man in the face with a machete, police said. Levine H. Koerner, 57, was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and terroristic threats following his arrest Monday night. His victim, Richard Heilman, 42, was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital – Muhlenberg for treatment. Heilman was “bleeding profusely from a large gaping wound to the right side of his face,” according to the police media report. Bethlehem police were initially called to the scene, just south and north of the 1400 block of Schoenersville Road, but the alleged attack occurred just beyond the municipal …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Crime News

Police: Homeless Man Shouted Bomb Threat in Sands

Man walked into lobby of Sands, shouted "A bomb to this ... place!" then gestured with his hands as if he were pointing a gun, court records say.

  Around noon Friday, a homeless man walked just a few steps into the lobby of the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and shouted “A bomb to this f------ place.” And he waved his hands “in a pointing fashion similar to how one would hold a gun,” court records say. Then he walked out. The man, Joseph Anthony Preziosi, 47, was taken into custody by Sands security, who may have recognized him because he was cited for trespassing at the Sands twice before, the records say. Preziosi’s actions were captured on surveillance video. And a security officer working the lobby area told Bethlehem police Preziosi shouted “something incomprehensible” before shouting about a bomb. The Sands security supervisor told police that in addition to being cited for …

• Photos (1)

Bethlehem Churches Open Doors to Homeless

Donations, volunteers needed to help shelter homeless at city churches

New Library Rules Aimed at Limiting Homeless

Sleeping, bathing and panhandling banned, as of last month, one church pastor protests.

The Bethlehem Area Public Library has revised its rules of acceptable behavior to limit the impact of homeless people who have recently begun to spend more time there, according to this Express-Times report. Sleeping, bathing and panhandling became prohibited activities at the library as of last month, according to the story. The new rules also prohibit bringing in sleeping bags or having “offensive bodily odors.” “A library cannot be an adult day care center — we do not have the resources for it,” library Executive Director Janet Fricker told the newspaper. “It was getting out of balance. It was getting to a point where people who regularly use the library with their kids weren’t coming here anymore.” However, the pastor of the Christ …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)