Crime News

Finders Keepers, Keeper Arrested at Casino

Souderton man found $1,280 in a Sands jackpot machine and left with the money. Now he faces a theft charge.

  If you find unattended money at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, don’t pick it up—unless you are aiming to end your night in jail. Steven Lynn Harpel, 59, of Souderton is finding this out the hard way. According to Pennsylvania State Police gaming control officers, Harpel stumbled onto $1,280 that had inadvertently been left in a jackpot machine by a casino attendant. Harpel then took the money and left the casino, troopers said. According to the arrest affidavit, the incident, which occurred on April 24, was captured on video and Harpel was identified through his Sands Casino player’s card. State police dispatched Souderton Borough Police officers to find Harpel and ask him to call the investigating state trooper, the affidavit said. …

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Crime News

Casino Cash Cage Supervisor Stole $10K, Police Say

Freemansburg man told state troopers he had been taking a few hundred dollars a day, several times a week, for more than a year, according to court documents.

  A supervisor in the “cage”—the center of cash storage and distribution at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem—is accused of stealing $10,000 from his employer, according to court papers. Jesus Manuel Gonzalez-Torres, 23, of 626A Ramblewood Lane, Freemansburg, admitted to Pennsylvania State Police that he snuck several hundred dollars a day—three or four times a week—out of the cage over the course of 13 months, beginning in March 2012, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The state police Bureau of Gaming Enforcement began its investigation into Gonzalez-Torres on April 15 after casino surveillance personnel reported that he was stealing cash, troopers said. According to the affidavit: Gonzalez-Torres was charged Wednesday with …

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Alleged I-78 Road Rage Shooter Brought to Pa.

65-year-old New Jersey man is extradited and arraigned in Northampton County on multiple charges, including attempted criminal homicide.

  A New Jersey man accused of firing a gun into a Bethlehem woman’s car as they both drove along Interstate 78 was brought to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to face charges. Lee Edwin Kish, 65, of Fanwood, was finally arraigned in Pennsylvania on multiple counts including attempted criminal homicide for the March 13 incident along eastbound I-78 in Lower Saucon Township. Kish was committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail following his arraignment before District Judge Joseph Barner of Lower Nazareth Township on Tuesday afternoon. Kish had been held in Union County Prison in New Jersey since his March 22 arrest. According to the arrest affidavit, Kish shot through his own driver’s side view mirror when he fired a bullet, …

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Crime News

Man Sold Heroin from East Hills Home, Police Say

State Police say Aaron Tannenbaum sold confidential informant 15 bags of narcotic for $150 over two visits last April.

  A Bethlehem man is accused of selling heroin to a Pennsylvania State Police confidential informant out of his East Hills home twice, according to court papers. Aaron C. Tannenbaum, 32, of 2853 Brandon Road, allegedly sold a total of 15 bags of the narcotic to the informant over two separate occasions last April, police said. According to the arrest affidavit: Tannenbaum was charged Thursday with two felony counts of possession of heroin. He was arraigned before District Judge James Narlesky of Hanover Township, Northampton County, and released on $15,000 cash bail.

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Crime News

Police: Drunk, Troopers Struggled on Sands' Floor

Allentown man refused to leave, resisted arrest, police said. Also, a Reading man is accused of stealing a bottle of fragrance from one of the Sands Shoppes.

  A man apparently drunk inside the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem – he told police he spent around $600 at the casino’s Vision Bar – ended up on the floor struggling with two state troopers because the man refused to leave. The incident involving Jose Antonio Rivera Jr., 38, of Allentown occurred early Sunday. About seven hours before, city police were called to the Sands and ended up arresting a Reading man for allegedly stealing a $40 bottle of fragrance from a casino store. Court records in the Rivera case said police were alerted shortly before 2:30am about a disorderly person who refused to leave “after being asked … multiple times.” At one point, the records say, Rivera told security officials to “go ahead” and call police. The case …

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Crime News

Police: Roulette Dealer Illegally Pocketed $600

Sands Casino dealer is accused of stealing buy-in money for Sunday morning roulette game.

  A roulette dealer at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem admitted to police what a casino patron had told Sands security – the dealer took $600 for himself early Sunday instead of placing it securely into a drop box. The actions of David H. Greger, 46, of Mohnton, Berks County, also were captured by casino surveillance cameras, according to a criminal complaint. Greger was charged with theft by unlawful taking and released on $2,500 unsecured bail. The complaint filed by state police Trooper Mark Shutkufski, who is stationed at the Sands, said casino surveillance officials went to work after the patron told security what Greger appeared to have done. Surveillance officials discovered the following actions: On Tuesday, Greger was brought to…

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2 Men Charged in Valleywide Burglary Spree

Pennsylvania State Police charge two -- one is from Easton -- in monthlong stealing spree that targeted about a dozen stores from Lower Macungie Township to the Slate Belt.

  Two men have been charged with committing 11 burglaries in one month at stores across the Lehigh Valley, according to published reports. Both Edward J. Medelo, 35, of Easton, and Derek Deutsch, 36, of Allentown, have been charged with 11 counts each of burglary, theft and receiving stolen property, 12 counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit burglary and criminal mischief and one count each of attempted burglary, according to court records. They were caught by Pennsylvania State Police on June 11 as they were trying to break into the Binny Mart on Mauch Chunk Road in North Whitehall Township, according to The Express-Times. The men would allegedly take a brick or a rock and smash a front window before taking cartons of cigarettes and…

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Expanding DNA Collection Will Cost Pa. Taxpayers

DNA collection, usually done with a cotton swab, could be added to Pennsylvania’s booking process for individuals charged with felonies and certain misdemeanors.

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent   HARRISBURG — Collecting DNA from people who are arrested may seem like a panacea for crime. Police can build and tap into an expanding database to find out if a person has committed a previous offense, which he has eluded, and increase conviction rates. But Pennsylvania State Police say such a proposal would increase the state’s DNA lab’s caseload nearly five times over. And then there are the groups who say pre-conviction DNA collection could violate people’s Fourth Amendment rights. The state House this fall could take up a Senate Bill 775 that would require DNA samples from individuals upon arrest for certain crimes. The bill is tentatively scheduled for a hearing on Sept. 25, according to House …

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Crime News

Police: Fountain Hill Man Raped Teenage Girl

State troopers say Brian Simmons asked girl to get in his car in Easton, then took her to Glendon where he forced her to have sex.

  A man with addresses in Fountain Hill and Easton is accused of raping a teenage girl. State police at Belfast say Brian William Simmons, AKA "40," raped the girl in his car in the borough of Glendon on July 3. According to court records, Simmons, 23, who knew the girl, asked her to get into his car while she was walking along Canal Street on Easton's South Side. They drove into Glendon, with Simmons asking the girl if she wanted to make some money. He pulled over onto Belmont St., where police say he forced the girl to have sex. The girl went home after the rape, court records say, and police were called. She was able to identify Simmons because they had prior contact. A warrant was issued for his arrest in July. Court records have …

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Crime News

City Restaurateur Accused of DUI, Resisting Arrest

Owner of Horns Restaurant in SouthSide almost hit Route 22 construction workers with pickup truck, kicked 2 cops in the knees at DUI Center and refused blood test, troopers say.

  The co-owner of a SouthSide Bethlehem restaurant is suspected of driving drunk when his pickup truck almost hit construction workers on Route 22 early Thursday – one year to the day that he and his wife opened their eatery. John M. Silvestera, 39, co-owner of Horns Restaurant and a resident of Forks Township, also is accused of kicking two police officers in the knees after being processed at the Northampton County DUI Center. He also refused to take a blood-alcohol test. The state police trooper who arrested Silvestera in Easton described his behavior as “belligerent, defiant and aggressive” and said he was “continually and repeatedly insulting” to him and officials at the DUI center. Silvestera’s arrest came exactly a year after he and…

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