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First Posted: 10/18/2013
AVOCA — Police charged Rebecca Lee Brojakowski, 28, of Main Street, Avoca, with assaulting an 8-year-old girl who suffered a black-and-blue eye and bruised buttocks.
Police said the child disclosed to a case interviewer at the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center on Thursday that Brojakowski would beat her “so bad that she would not be able to sit flat for up to two days at a time,” according to the criminal complaint.
The girl claimed Brojakowski punched her in the face causing a black-and-blue eye when the child got in her way when retrieving a cooking pot on Oct. 9, the complaint says.
A guidance counselor at the girl’s school contacted Luzerne County Children and Youth Services which, in turn, notified police about the alleged abuse.
Brojakowski faces simple assault and harassment charges that were filed with District Judge Andrew Barilla on Friday. The charges were mailed to Brojakowski, who is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 27.
LARKSVILLE — Police reported the following:
• Police charged Christopher Emmett, 20, of Nesbitt Street, Larksville, with loitering and prowling at night after he was spotted by a homeowner on West First Street near her vehicle early Thursday morning. Emmett walked away when the woman confronted him.
• Two tires were discovered slashed on a vehicle on Carver Street on Wednesday.
DALLAS TWP. — Andrew Chewey, 29, of West Nanticoke, was arraigned Friday on charges he burglarized Top Value Auto Sales, state Route 309, on Sept. 17.
Township police allege Chewey forced open a door and stole an air compressor and battery chargers, according to the criminal complaint.
He was charged with burglary, criminal trespass and theft. He remained jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $5,000 bail.
Chewey is facing related charges he burglarized two businesses in Wyoming County and stole two vehicles in Plymouth Township and Wilkes-Barre, according to court records.
A preliminary hearing on the charges filed by Dallas Township police is scheduled on Oct. 24 before District Judge James Tupper in Kingston Township.
KINGSTON TWP. — A Harveys Lake man was arraigned Friday on charges he burglarized a garage in Wilkes-Barre and stole an air conditioner from a department store in Wilkes-Barre Township.
David Nagle, 52, of Old Highway Road, was arraigned by District Judge James Tupper in Kingston Township on charges of burglary, criminal trespass, theft and retail theft. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $13,000 bail.
Wilkes-Barre police allege Nagle entered a garage on Bruce Lane and removed tools and welding equipment valued at $2,000 on June 16, according to the criminal complaint.
Wilkes-Barre Township police allege Nagle stole an air conditioner from Walmart Supercenter on June 23.
HAZLETON — City police reported the following:
• Police are investigating a burglary at a residence in the 600 block of North Laurel Street Friday.
• Police are investigating a burglary at a residence in the 600 block of North James Street Thursday.
• Police arrested Shelby Pavlick, 20, and Robert Waice, 24, both of Hazleton, on arrest warrants when police spotted them in the area of Holly and Wyoming streets just before 4:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.
AVOCA — Police arrested William Gantt, 36, of Avoca, on charges he assaulted and punched his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach inside their Main Street residence early Friday morning.
Police allege Gantt bit the woman on her lip and nose, and punched her in the stomach multiple times, according to the criminal complaint.
The woman told police she is four months pregnant. She refused to be taken to the hospital, police said.
Gantt was charged with simple assault, reckless endangerment, harassment and disorderly conduct. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $15,000 bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled on Oct. 30 before District Judge Andrew Barilla in Pittston.
OLD FORGE — Borough police on Friday arrested three people they say are responsible for multiple vehicle break-ins in the borough and surrounding areas.
Police said they individuals were apprehended through the cooperation of multiple police departments.
Arrested were Kyle Kozloski, Timothy Muchler and Domenica Benezelski, all of 145 Interfaith Apartments, Wilkes-Barre.
According to online court records, Kozloski and Muchler were charged with access device fraud and conspiracy. Kozloski also was charged with three counts of receiving stolen property and two counts of forgery. Sugar Notch police filed identical charges against Kozloski on Thursday related to an incident that occurred on Oct. 8.
There was no information online for Benezelski.
Police said more arrests are expected as the investigation continues. Any police departments still investigating thefts should call Old Forge police at 570-457-7441, ext. 312.
WILKES-BARRE — A Dallas man has been charged with stealing a vehicle in Wilkes-Barre and stealing items from other vehicles in Tunkhannock.
Police said Corey Kehoe reported that his 2008 Mazda 3 was stolen from the area of Rita and East Lafayette streets in Wilkes-Barre between Sept. 29 and 30. Kehoe believed he misplaced a key to the vehicle and that it was in the glovebox.
On Oct. 1, Plains Township police found the vehicle crashed on Jumper Road and quickly located two of the occupants that had fled from the vehicle — Katelyn Gemski and Tyler Price, who told them that Christian Cooper picked them up after asking if they wanted to go for a ride in his car and began driving excessively fast before he lost control of the car and it crashed.
Police recovered a black backpack Cooper allegedly carried off while fleeing and then discarded. The backpack contained a $700 laptop and an Apple iPad belonging to a Tunkhannock resident. Tunkhannock Police Chief Roger Hardy confirmed that the laptop and iPad were among items stolen from vehicles in Tunkhannock the same night Kehoe’s vehicle was stolen.
Other items stolen from vehicles in Tunkhannock that night, including a .45-caliber Rock Island Arms handgun.
Cooper, 19, of Carpenter Road, Dallas, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with theft by unlawful taking, carrying a firearm without a license, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and three counts of receiving stolen property. He was arraigned before District Judge Rick Cronauer and jailed at Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $10,000 bail.
HARVEYS LAKE — Harveys Lake police on Friday arrested a Harveys Lake man in connection with three burglaries — two in Dallas Township and one in Kingston.
Kingston police obtained a license plate number of a Toyota Prius that was suspected to have been involved in an attempted burglary at Franconi Auto Parts on Market Street on Oct. 6, police said
Harveys Lake police spotted the car pulling into the driveway of the car’s registered owner on Carpenter Road after Kingston police requested a check of the address for the vehicle and Dennis Shumbris, the owner’s son, who was reportedly driving the vehicle Oct. 5 and 6.
Police discovered items such as television sets and a game system in the back seat of the car and found that the items in the car and some items in Shumbris’ pockets were taken from a house on Country Club Road that same day, police said.
Police said Shumbris admitted to the burglary and attempted burglary and provided a written statement to police.
The manager of The Heritage Shop at the Dallas Shopping Center told police on Oct. 7 that she saw Shumbris’ Oct. 6 arrest on the news and recognized him as the man trying to break in the rear door of the store on Oct. 5.
Shumbris, 35, of Carpenter Road, was charged on Thursday with burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property in connection with the Oct. 6 incidents. He was charged with burglary and two counts of possession of instruments of crime in connection with the Oct. 5 incident.
Shumbris was arraigned on Friday before District Judge James Tupper and jailed at Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $5,000 bail on each of the two sets of charges.
WILKES-BARRE —City police reported the following:
• Police on Friday arrested Amy Marcinkiewicz, of North Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, on a warrant for failure to appear on a theft by deception charge after they observed her running from Sherman Hills apartments onto Sherman Street at about 5:30 p.m. and stopped her to ensure she was safe, police said.
• Charles Chandler, 47, of Plymouth, was charged with possession of heroin and possession with intent to deliver heroin in a school zone, and and John Albert Jackson, 45, of Wilkes-Barre, was charged with possession of heroin after police observed them allegedly conduct a narcotic transaction near 67 Public Square at about 9:45 a.m. Friday, police said.