Crime News

SouthSide Man Was Wanted in N.Y. Burglary: Police

Suspect in upstate New York burglary was at Bethlehem police headquarters when out-of-state warrant came to light.

Bethlehem police Tuesday afternoon arrested a SouthSide man wanted for a March burglary in upstate New York in a case that also may have involved a stabbing. A warrant out of Endicott, N.Y., says Pedro Garcia-Ayala, 36, used a “sharp-edged instrument” on two people, causing “multiple physical injuries.” The warrant describes the incident as a burglary in the first degree, adding that Garcia-Ayala “entered a dwelling with the intent to commit assault.” A March 27 story on the website of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports that a man and woman were injured in a stabbing around 3 a.m. on that day at 1701 Watson Blvd. in Endicott, which is west of Binghamton. In Bethlehem, Det. Sean Molony writes in a criminal complaint that Garcia-…

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SouthSide Man Stabbed in Back During Street Fight

Victim was stabbed multiple times during fight on E. Third Street. Police seek eyewitnesses.

Crime News

SouthSide Man Stabbed in Back on E. Third St.

Victim was stabbed multiple times during South Bethlehem street fight. Police seek eyewitnesses.

  A South Bethlehem man was stabbed several times in the back during a fight near his home on E. Third Street, city police said. The 20-year-old victim, who police did not identify, is recovering from surgery at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill, where he was taken following the assault, said Bethlehem Police Det. Lt. Mark DiLuzio. The victim is stable and expected to recover from his injuries. The incident occurred at about 9:15 p.m. in the 1000 block of E. Third Street. A fight between the victim and his lone attacker led to the stabbing, DiLuzio said. It is unclear how the fight got started. Police are reviewing video surveillance of the area at the time of the stabbing. Police are also looking for eyewitnesses to the …

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Attempted Homicide Charge Dropped in Stabbing

Brooklyn, N.Y., man who stabbed a co-worker in a Bethlehem Township hotel pleads guilty to simple assault, harassment and will spend no more than 11 months in jail.

  A Brooklyn, N.Y., man who stabbed a co-worker in the chest in a hotel parking lot in Bethlehem Township will serve between 5½ and 11 months in Northampton County Prison as a result of his plea deal in court, The Express Times reported. Asani Wahid Elliott, 20, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment, simple assault and harassment before Northampton County Judge Anthony Beltrami on Tuesday, the newspaper reported. Elliott had also been charged with attempted homicide and aggravated assault, but those charges went away in the plea deal. The newspaper report said prosecutors were dealing with an uncooperative victim, Vincent Dukes of Alverne, N.Y., in the case. Prosecutors had reportedly lost contact with Dukes as the case moved forward and…

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Crime News

Police: Refused Sex, Woman Stabs Ex-Boyfriend

South Bethlehem woman visited ex with their daughter and wanted sex, but she trashed his room and lunged at him with a kitchen knife when he refused, police say.

  A South Bethlehem woman is accused of stabbing her ex-boyfriend – and the father of her 2-year-old daughter – with a kitchen knife after he refused to have sex with her Sunday morning, according to court papers. The suspect, Veronica Morales, 23, of 606 Hayes St., went to police with her story first, claiming that her ex-boyfriend had assaulted her when she brought the toddler to his home for him to watch, the affidavit says. But Bethlehem police sussed out a different story when they interviewed the boyfriend – Deion Serna – and a next-door neighbor who told police he had heard what happened. According to Serna’s version of events in court papers: The witness, according to court papers, told police: In a subsequent interview, according …

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Crime News

Police: Woman Stabs Daughter's Ex with Steak Knife

After a heated argument in Marvine-Pembroke, a woman stabs her daughter's ex-boyfriend in the back, police say.

  The mother of a woman engaged in a heated argument with her ex-boyfriend in Marvine-Pembroke allegedly intervened by sticking a steak knife in the man’s back on Wednesday afternoon, according to court records. As a result, Candida Rosa Sostre, 53, of 1210 Flower Drive, Bethlehem, has been charged with aggravated assault and other counts. The injury to the victim, Ralph Hann, was not deemed life-threatening. According to court papers, Hann and the mother of his child, Ashley Rosado, had been engaged in a heated argument in which they had struck each other. Bethlehem Police Officer Zachary Beals wrote in the affidavit that he had visited Sostre’s Flower Drive home before for domestic disputes. Hann told police that he began to walk away …

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Crime News

Police: Zoning Board Member Stabbed by Nephew

William Fitzpatrick was allegedly stabbed in the back three times by his nephew, apparently upset with uncle's attempts to evict him from family home.

  A member of the Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board was stabbed in the back multiple times on Monday by his nephew, who has been charged with attempted homicide, according to court papers. The victim, William Fitzpatrick, was talking to police after the incident and is expected to recover from his injuries, barring any complications, according to The Express Times. The suspect, John E. Bragg Jr., might have been upset that Fitzpatrick had been trying to evict him from his home at 256 E. Goepp St., where the stabbing occurred, according to court records. Fitzpatrick told police that he is the executor of the estate of Jack Bragg Sr., who was his brother and the suspect’s father. Two weeks earlier, Bragg was ordered to leave the house but …

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Crime News

Stabbing Was Retaliation for Butt Slap, Police Say

South Bethlehem woman with sunburned bottom stabbed her boyfriend twice after he smacked her butt "as a joke," according to court records.

  Michael Martinez says he knew that his girlfriend had sunburn on her derriere, but “as a joke” he went ahead and slapped her on the posterior as she washed the dishes Monday night. Her reaction? ”She became immediately agitated” and turned around holding a large steak knife, Martinez told Bethlehem police. After telling her two children to leave the room – they were all in the living room by now -- she stabbed him in the right shoulder, screamed “I’m going to f------ kill you,” then stabbed him again, this time in the right upper back area, court records say. Tiffany E. Sherry, 24, of 947 Wyandotte St., is facing multiple charges including aggravated assault, a felony. Police say she stabbed Martinez three times in the upper torso area. …

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Crime News

Argument Over Buying Liquor Led to Stabbing

Name-calling and fisticuffs ensued after men couldn't buy alcohol at state liquor store.

  A man accused of stabbing a co-worker outside of a Bethlehem Township hotel on Thursday afternoon told police that he was “enraged and furious” after his victim cursed at him and they exchanged punches outside of a state liquor store across the street, according to court papers. The victim, Vincent Dukes, 23, of Alverne, N.Y., even admitted to police that he threw the first punch at the Bethlehem Square Shopping Center along Route 191, an affidavit says. According to an eyewitness, the argument began because Dukes was upset that he could not buy alcohol at the state Wine & Spirits shop in the mall. Nonetheless, Asani Wahid Elliott, 19, of Brooklyn, N.Y. has been charged with criminal attempt to commit homicide and a number of other …

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Crime News

New York Man Stabbed in Front of Township Hotel

Police say he and a co-worker suspect had fisticuffs earlier in the day.

  A New York man was stabbed in the chest with a serrated steak knife by a co-worker this afternoon outside of the Comfort Inn in Bethlehem Township, according to published reports. The victim, Vincent Dukes, of Malverne, N.Y., suffered a serious chest wound, perhaps a partially collapsed lung in the attack at about 1 p.m., according to The Express-Times. He was taken to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill. The suspect, whom police did not identify, was taken into custody and will likely be arraigned tonight in front of night duty District Judge Nancy Matos-Gonzalez in South Bethlehem. According to the newspaper, the two men had had an argument that turned to fisticuffs at the Bethlehem Square Shopping Center along Route 191 in…

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