Crime & Courts

February 4, 2009

Benton man dies in crash on snow-covered Rte. 239 Police Blotter

HUNTINGTON TWP. – State police at Shickshinny said Turin Gerhardt, 20, of Benton, died as a result of a crash on a snow-covered state Route 239 Monday night.

Gerhardt was southbound on Route 239 when he lost control of his 1984 Volkswagen Scirocco, which collided with a 1999 Ford F250 pickup driven by Ralph A. Peterman Jr., 61, of Benton, police said. Peterman was northbound on Route 239.

WILKES-BARRE – City police reported the following:

• Christopher Roland Wilkinson, 43, of 430 Carey Ave., was charged Tuesday with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and a single count of criminal use of communication facility for allegedly selling $500 worth of cocaine. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $20,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police said they observed Wilkinson selling cocaine from a Hummer H3 in a parking lot at Hanover and South Franklin streets Monday night. Police stopped the vehicle and found cocaine, two cell phones and $951.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 11 in Central Court.

• Jason Anthony Buckery, of New York, was cited with public drunkenness after a disturbance at Sherman Hills apartment complex on Monday, police said.

• Police said John Migatulski, 29, of Ridgewood Road, is facing a harassment charge after Heather Kerestes, of George Avenue, alleged he made numerous harassing phone calls to her.

• Michael Filipowicz, of Govier Street, reported Monday that an unknown person used his name for a bank loan, police said.

WHITE HAVEN – Police said cash and lottery tickets were stolen in an early Monday morning burglary at an Exxon gas station on Church Street.

About $3,000 worth of lottery tickets were cashed in at a store in the Philadelphia area. White Haven police are working with Philadelphia police in trying to identify a suspect or suspects, police said.

A station in the state’s northern region was similarly burglarized in November, police said.

Anyone who was driving past the Exxon gas station between 1:30 and 4 a.m. is asked to contact the White Haven Police Department at 443-8888.

WILKES-BARRE – Hallways and classrooms at the Heights Martin L. Murray Elementary School were vandalized over the weekend, police said.

Police said the suspects, believed to be teenagers, entered the school on South Sherman Street late Friday night or early Saturday morning by smashing a door window. Once inside, the suspects committed acts of vandalism to numerous classrooms and hallways, and spray-painted graffiti tags of “Rollin 8’s” and “TKS” on blackboards.

District Director of Security Brian Lavan said two or three classrooms were targeted with graffiti.

Police said evidence was recovered at the scene. Anyone with information about the burglary and mischief is asked to contact Wilkes-Barre police at 208-4201.

Police said callers can remain anonymous.

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