Police Blotter
First Posted:
FISHING CREEK TWP. – A 19-year-old driver was killed and his two teenage passengers were injured in a single car accident Friday night on Winding Road.
State police said Christopher Stabler, 19, of Bloomsburg, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, which occurred at about 10:20 p.m. Friday.
He was not wearing a seat belt, state police said.
Stabler was driving a 2002 Mercury Cougar that went off the road along a sweeping right turn about a half-mile from Asbury Road.
According to state police: The driver lost control after the vehicle crossed the oncoming lane and went onto a dirt berm. It traveled approximately 500 feet west on Winding Road before rolling onto the driver’s side and striking a utility pole with the roof above the front seat passenger area, bringing the car to a rest in a grassy area next to the roadway.
State police said Stabler’s two passengers also suffered injuries in the crash. A 17-year-old male from Bloomsburg, who was not identified by state police, suffered severe injuries, and Rachel Bowman, 18, of Benton, suffered moderate injuries.
It is not known whether the two passengers were wearing seat belts, state police said.
PLAINS TWP. – Township police arrested a man wanted by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole after a foot chase Thursday.
At approximately 5:50 p.m., police stopped a vehicle driven by Marlon Womack, 22, of Wilkes-Barre, because the vehicle’s inspection sticker had expired, police said.
Police said Womack provided a false name to the officer who stopped him, and while the officer was in his patrol car, Womack exited his vehicle and ran. Officers gave chase and eventually found Womack hiding under a pine tree on Austin Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, police said.
He was taken into custody and charged with escape, resisting arrest, providing false identification to law enforcement, criminal trespass, driving with a suspended license and expired inspection, police said. When police learned Womack’s true identity, he was also found to be wanted by the state probation and parole board, police said.
Wilkes-Barre city police assisted in the apprehension of Womack.
HAZLETON – City police are investigating a report of multiple shots fired in the area of 232 Cedar St. at approximately 4:45 a.m. Saturday.
Police said they discovered multiple shell casings from at .223-caliber semi-automatic weapon in the area.
Anyone who witnessed or has information about the incident is asked to contact Hazleton city police or call 911.
FREELAND – State police said someone forced entry through the rear door of the rectory at Immaculate Conception Church on Centre Street and stole a 32-inch flat screen television Friday evening.
HANOVER TWP. – Township police reported the following:
• Holly Groshek of Fellows Avenue said someone removed a Playstation 3 game console and a Fender Stratocaster guitar from her residence sometime Thursday or Friday. No forced entry was reported, police said.
• Police are investigating a hit-and-run accident at the intersection of the Sans Souci Parkway and Oxford Street Friday.
Police said Diane Hall’s vehicle was struck by a purple Chevrolet Camaro bearing a New York license plate, which continued driving east off the Sans Souci Parkway. The Camaro was driven by a white male with long hair and was last seen traveling north on Woodbury Street, police said.
Hall sustained minor injuries in the crash and was transported from the scene by Hanover Township ambulance.
WILKES-BARRE – City police reported the following:
• Police said they charged Derek Zambino of Dallas with driving under the influence after he was allegedly found asleep at the wheel of his vehicle at a stop sign on Riverside Drive at 2:32 a.m. Saturday.
• Police charged Charles Holminski with simple assault after he allegedly choked a 22-year-old woman outside the Hardware Bar, 12 S. Main St., at 12:48 a.m. Saturday.
• Police confirmed the identity of the man shot Tuesday as Darnell Jackson of Hazle Avenue.
According to police, officers were called to 302 Hazle Ave. at 4:19 p.m. Tuesday for a report of a male shot in the leg by a handgun. Police said Jackson was being treated for his injuries when they arrived. He had been shot in the left groin area, police said.
The only information Jackson provided police was that he was shot in the park on Hickory Street by an unknown white male, police said. A search of the Iron Triangle Park yielded no results, police said.
He was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center for treatment, police said.
SUGARLOAF TWP. – Vanessa Horuath, 29, of Butler Township was taken into custody early Saturday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence, state police said.
Horuath’s vehicle was stopped on the side of the road in the area of Center Hill and Cony-Drums roads at 6:53 a.m., state police said. She showed signs of intoxication while state police investigated the reason for her vehicle being stopped, state police said. She was driven to the Hazleton state police station for a breath test, state police said.
Charges will be filed with a District Judge Daniel O’Donnell in Sugarloaf, state police said.
FOSTER TWP. – Steven Jacobsen, 25, of Somerset, N.J. was issued a traffic citation after a car crash Friday afternoon on Point Drive, state police said.
Jacobsen was traveling east on the roadway around 4:20 p.m. and negotiating a curve to the right when he lost control of his 2008 Honda Civic, hit a large rock alongside the roadway, and continued down a steep embankment, state police said.
Jacobsen and passengers, Joseph Hagman, 25, and Tarik Shah, 25, both of Westfield, N.J., wore seatbelts and were not injured.
State police issued a citation to Jacobsen for driving on roadways laned for traffic.
HAZLETON – A man was arraigned Thursday on charges he kidnapped a pregnant woman.
Carlos Cortes, 26, of East Diamond Avenue, Hazleton, was charged with kidnapping, indecent assault and false imprisonment. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $150,000 bail.
According to the criminal complaint:
A woman told police she was walking in an alley near Diamond Avenue when a man driving a car stopped next to her at about 7 p.m. Wednesday. She claimed the man forced her into the car and drove away.
While he was driving, she said he molested her outside her clothing.
The woman said she escaped from the car about six miles from where she was forced into the car.
A witness saw the woman lying on the road and called 911.
Police said the woman was flown to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center for injuries.
With assistance from the state police at Hazleton, police located the car, a blue Ford Taurus owned by Cortes.
Cortes told police he offered a ride to a girl who jumped from his car, according to the criminal complaint.
HANOVER TWP. – Township police reported the following:
• Five cast iron storm grates were reported stolen Friday from South and Stanley streets, Tanya Drive and Lasley Avenue. The grates are approximately 48 inches by 26 inches.
• Two males Friday stole 20 bottles of Axe body spray worth approximately $120 from the CVS Pharmacy on Carey Avenue. They fled in a black, four-door Ford Taurus with tinted windows. Anyone with information about the theft is asked to contact police at 570 825-1254.
• The Slice is Right pizza restaurant on the Sans Souci Parkway reported Monday tar paper and roofing material were dumped in its garbage container in the rear of the business.
WILKES-BARRE – City police reported the following:
• Jennifer Allen of Stanton Street reported Friday someone used her ACCESS card to make an unauthorized purchase of $52.50 at the Turkey Hill at 616 Hazle Ave. on March 15.• Yvette Davis, 40, of New Street, Plymouth will be charged with violating a protection from abuse order after Mark Rivers, the father of her daughter, said Davis was shouting at him outside his residence Thursday on South Welles Street.
• A 13-year-old boy from Wilkes-Barre was charged with retail theft Thursday after an employee at Schiel’s Market on Hanover Street said he saw the teenager place five candy bars worth $4.95 in his pocket without paying for them.
• Donna Hooker reported Friday her car was stolen after a burglary at her residence on Joseph Lane. The silver, 2001 Ford Focus has Pennsylvania license plate HTH-1035. The keys to the car and a 42-inch flat screen television were stolen in the burglary.
• Jessica Sheehan of Plains Township was charged with driving under the influence Thursday night after a hit-and-run accident on Gore Street.
