Crime & Courts

June 19, 2008

Police Blotter

HAZLE TWP. – State police at Hazleton are investigating a robbery at a PNC Bank branch on state Route 93 on Monday.

Police said a while man entered the bank at about 2:40 p.m. and threatened a teller with a tire iron. The man fled with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.

Police described the man as being 30 to 35 years old, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall, approximately 175 pounds, shaved head and wearing a white shirt and checkered pants. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact state police at Hazleton at 459-3890.

LAKE TWP. – State police at Wyoming said multiple steel I-beams, four 12-volt batteries and a truck scale were stolen from Ruggles Hollow Sand and Gravel Co. from May 15 to June 15. Anyone with information about the theft is asked to contact state police at Wyoming at 697-2000.

SUGARLOAF TWP. – State police at Hazleton said Edward Brian Justice of Wapwallopen faces charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia after he was found inside a vehicle parked in front of a home on Main Street on Sunday.

BUTLER TWP. – Township police reported the following:

• A resident of Buckridge Drive in Beech Mountain Lakes reported the rear window of his Hummer sport utility vehicle was shot out. The damage was discovered Thursday morning, police said.

• A 17-year-old male from Maryland, a resident at the Keystone Job Corps Center, reported his cell phone missing on Sunday.

• Tina Pendergast, 23, of Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre, was arrested on evidence of drunken driving after a crash on South Hunter Highway on Monday.

Police said Pendergast lost control of her vehicle at about 12:45 a.m. and struck a mailbox and two utility poles, which were sheared in half by the impact.

Pendergast wasn’t injured but showed signs of intoxication, police said. Police said Pendergast failed a field sobriety test and was taken for a blood-alcohol test at a local hospital.

• A large amount of antique coins and jewelry was stolen in a burglary at a Honeyhole Road home on Saturday. Police asked local merchants and shop owners to be alert for antique coins and currency. Items such as 1928 $20 bills, 1941 to 1944 copper pennies and silver dollars were stolen during the burglary, police said.

Anyone with information or who observed suspicious vehicles parked on Honeyhole Road between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. is asked to contact Butler Township police at 788-3230.

• Police are searching for the driver of a motorcycle that led officers on a pursuit early Sunday morning.

Police said the pursuit began in the Woodside area at about 3:15 a.m., when the motorcyclist failed to stop at a stop sign. Police pursued the motorcyclist until the pursuit was terminated near St. Ann’s Road.

The motorcycle didn’t have a registration plate, police said.

Police said the operator was wearing a gray sweatshirt, jeans and a Yamaha-type helmet.

Anyone with information about the driver is asked to contact police at 788-3230.

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