Crime & Courts

December 1, 2009

Police Blotter

WILKES-BARRE – City police are searching for two men who robbed Peter’s Deli at gunpoint at around 8:50 p.m. Sunday.

Police said a clerk reported she was in the rear of the store, located at 498 N. Main St., when she was approached by a man wearing dark clothes and a bandanna around his face. The man grabbed her by the shirt and directed her to the cash register.

The clerk said she also saw a second man standing near the register, pointing what she believed to be a rifle at her. A second clerk came out of the back room and was grabbed and pushed toward the register.

The clerk gave the men an unknown amount of cash. The first man then ordered both clerks to lay face down on the floor. They complied and stayed on the floor until a customer arrived about five minutes later and advised them no one was in the store. They then phoned police.

Police said both of the suspects were wearing a black-hooded sweat shirt, black pants and a dark bandanna. No further description was available.

WILKES-BARRE – A juvenile who was wanted for absconding from a juvenile detention center was taken into custody Friday night after an officer with the State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement witnessed the youth carrying a 12-pack of beer in the Hanover Village Apartment complex.

State police said the 17-year-old male was stopped in the 100 block of the apartment complex. The officer determined the male was wanted on original charges of receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle stemming from the theft of a motor vehicle in Wilkes-Barre.

The youth was taken to PA Child Care juvenile detention facility to await a hearing in juvenile court, police said.

HANOVER TWP. – Township police are investigating a rash of car break-ins that occurred overnight Friday and Saturday in the Buttonwood section.

Police said most of the thefts involved a small amount of cash and CD’s. Other persons reported their vehicles were entered, but nothing was taken.

The following persons reported their vehicles were entered:

• George Sudo and John Halliday, both of Frank Street; Arlene Charnichko of Phillips Street; Sandra Graboske and Robert Graboske of Everhart Street; Douglas Fawbush of Simonblock Avenue; Jody Maciejczak of Pulaski Street and Janine Davis of Sivelly Street.

HANOVER TWP. – Township police reported the following:

• Paul Nice, of Colley Street, reported that someone stole his green 15-speed mountain bike from the rear yard of his residence sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning.

• Lisa Dempski, of Lewis Street, reported that someone stole and iPod Nano, and iPod charger and a cell phone charger from her unlocked vehicle sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning.

NANTICOKE – City police reported that they are investigating 13 incidents in which items were stolen from parked vehicles.

Common to all of the incidents were that the vehicles were entered from the front driver- or passenger-side window, there was no forced entry and all were unlocked. All were parked, either in the street or in private driveways, on the 500 block of East Grand, South Market, South Chestnut, East Noble and South Hanover streets. Items taken have been money, wallets and credit cards.

Residents are asked to lock and secure their vehicles and call 911 if suspicious activity is observed. Anyone with information about the break-ins are asked to call police at 735-2200.

PLAINS TWP. – Township police reported the following:

• Kenneth Howells, 31, of Hanover Township, was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving with a suspended license on Sunday after he allegedly was seen driving a vehicle at Mohegan Sun that was reported stolen from the American Legion in Ashley, police said.

Howells was taken into custody and transported to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, where he refused to submit to a blood-alcohol content test, police said.

• Jacqueline Danko, 28, of Hanover Township, will be cited with disorderly conduct and public drunkenness after allegedly creating a disturbance at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital on Saturday, police said.

Police responded to the emergency room for a report of an intoxicated woman causing a disturbance in the waiting area. Danko’s boyfriend was patient in the emergency room being treated for injuries sustained after an alleged assault at the Pour House in Ashley, police said.

WILKES-BARRE – City police reported the following:

• Jerry McNeill, 39, of Blackman Street, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and recklessly endangering another person after Margaret McNeill, also of Blackman Street, told police that he shot at her during a domestic dispute at 54 Blackman St., police said.

• Justin Rosser, 22, of Scott Street, Wilkes-Barre; Ryan Rushton, 22, of Gordon Lane, Kingston; and Alexander Shamakov, 22, of Culb Cove, Bear Creek; were arrested after a fight at 16 S. Main St. at 1:06 a.m. Sunday, police said.

Police said Rosser will be charged with disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and possession of a controlled substance; Rushton will be charged with public drunkenness; and Shamakov will be charged with disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

• Christopher Paul Dutko, of Florida, was confronted by a group of men at Park and Lock Central, 52 S. Main St., who, after having words with Dutko, punched him, kicked him and knocked him to the ground. The men fled before police arrived.

• One woman was injured in a two-vehicle crash on Kidder Street on Saturday afternoon, police said.

Gerald Musto, of Scranton, was stopped at a traffic light at the on-ramp for state Route 115 when his 2006 Chevrolet Colorado was struck from behind by a 2000 Jeep Cherokee driven by Virginia Kohnevich, of Plymouth, police said.

Musto later drove his passenger, Maryann Musto, of Scranton, to a Scranton hospital after she complained of neck pain, police said.

Kohnevich was at fault, police said.

DALLAS TWP. – Township police reported that at least 10 mailboxes in the northeast area of the township were damaged overnight between Nov. 29 and Nov. 30.

The damage seems to have been done with a baseball bat or similar object, police said. Anyone who discovers such damage is urged to call 911 and report it.

Tweet	Follow @TLnews