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First Posted: 8/7/2013

FORTY FORT — Police captured a man wanted on hundreds of child sex charges in Montgomery County during a traffic stop for speeding on Wednesday.

Jamal Malik Alston, 36, of Philadelphia, was stopped for aggressive driving on Wyoming Avenue at about 10:12 a.m. near the state police Wyoming barracks.

A records check showed Alston was wanted by the Norristown Police Department in Montgomery County.

Court records from Montgomery County say Alston is charged with 514 counts consisting of rape of child, unlawful contact with a minor, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children, indecent exposure, corruption of minors and criminal use of communication facility.

He was arraigned by District Judge David Barilla on a fugitive from justice charge and jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $200,000 bail.

WILKES-BARRE — A New York City man was arraigned Wednesday on charges he sold cocaine on Cummisky Street.

Jemal Smith, 24, was charged by city police with a single count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $10,000 bail.

Police allege Smith sold cocaine near a residence he was spotted leaving on Tuesday, according to the criminal complaint.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled on Aug. 13.

WILKES-BARRE — A woman was arraigned Wednesday on charges she traded a stolen laptop computer for heroin and crack cocaine.

Melissa Connors, 44, no known address, was charged by city police with theft. She was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $20,000 bail.

Police allege a laptop computer was stolen during a burglary of a residence on Spring Street on June 25. The tenant told police she allowed Connors and her daughter, Megan Connors, to stay there but kicked them out due to their alleged drug use, according to the criminal complaint.

Melissa Connors was found in a room at a motel in Plains Township where she was taken into custody on an unrelated incident. She told police her boyfriend burglarized the Spring Street residence and removed a laptop computer she traded for heroin and crack cocaine in the Sherman Hills apartment complex, the complaint says.

A preliminary hearing is schedule on Aug. 15 before District Judge Martin Kane.

EATON TWP. — No injuries were reported in a two-vehicle crash on state Route 29 near Burger King and Walmart on Tuesday.

State police at Tunkhannock said a 17-year-old girl from Tunkhannock, driving a 2000 Subaru, pulled out of the Burger King lot and tried to turn onto Route 29 when she collided with a 2001 Dodge Durango, driven by Tammy Webb, 38, of Meshoppen, at about 5:25 p.m.

HAZLETON — City police reported the following:

• Police said a black 1998 Mercury Mountaineer with Pennsylvania license plate JDY-0863 and a 32-inch Vizio television were stolen from a residence in the 500 block of Harrison Street on Tuesday.

• Police cited William Cropper, 23, of Hazleton, with criminal mischief after he allegedly damaged an entry door at a physician’s office on South Cedar Street on Tuesday.

• Police said a white 1998 Dodge Caravan with Pennsylvania license plate HWY-1939 was stolen from the 300 block of West 21st Street early Wednesday morning.

• Police arrested Lionel Richard Pierre, 27, of Hazleton, on charges of simple assault and harassment after he allegedly pushed a woman into a mirror that smashed Wednesday morning. The woman was injured by glass, police said.

Pierre was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $5,000 bail.