Crime News

Police Seek Victims of Alleged Child Molester

Conversations with neighbors describing behavior of accused lead police to believe there may be more victims out there.

  A South Bethlehem man charged last week with sexually assaulting a 4-year-old child in a back yard might have other victims, the Bethlehem Police Department said Tuesday. The department, in a blog post, put out a call for parents of victims to step forward “so that the proper services can be made available to you and your child.” Donald B. Pembleton, 56, was allegedly spotted Friday afternoon by an eyewitness who said she was observing him “assaulting a small child in the rear yard of a residence in the 500 block of Thomas Street,” police said. Pembleton, who is positive for hepatitis C, is facing multiple charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault/victim under 13, indecent assault/…

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Crime News

WANTED: Man Allegedly Hiding 16-Year-Old Girl

Bethlehem police are seeking the public's help in finding Maximo Nunez or Johany Javier.

  Bethlehem police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man believed to be concealing the location of a 16-year-old runaway girl. An arrest warrant has been obtained for Maximo Nunez, police said. He is described as 5-feet 11-inches tall and about 315 pounds. The missing girl is named Johany Javier. Nunez, who is believed to be in the New York area, is wanted on two charges—concealment of the whereabouts of a child and interfering with the custody of children, police said. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Nunez or Javier are asked to call the City of Bethlehem Police Department at 610-865-7187.

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Jets Coach Rex Ryan Smashes Red Mustang in Bethlehem

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan 'denied that he was speeding but did not deny causing the accident' at Third and Wyandotte streets in South Bethlehem.

New York Jets head football coach Rex Ryan told Bethlehem police he was trying “to beat the light” when he apparently caused a minor three-car crash in south Bethlehem during the evening rush hour eight days ago, Bethlehem Police said. The accident occurred at the intersection of Wyandotte and W. Third streets, just south of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge on Jan. 14 at 6:13 p.m. One eyewitness and the driver of one of the other two cars in the crash told police they saw a 2013 red Ford Mustang, which Ryan was driving, go through a red light as it traveled west along W. Third Street, police said. Though police said the investigation into the accident is not complete, the partially redacted accident report city officials released Tuesday said Ryan…

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Bethlehem Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting Bushkill Teens

Bradley Larry Parker, 21, of Bethlehem allegedly went to the Bushkill Township home of a 14-year-old girl where he picked both her and her 15-year-old friend up and took them to his home.

A Bethlehem man is accused of bringing a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl to his home where he plied them with drinks and had sex with them, according to a criminal complaint filed by city police Thursday. Bradley Larry Parker, 21, of 1849 Barbara St., was charged with statutory rape and corruption of minors and was committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail. According to the complaint, the incident happened in late August. Parker allegedly went to the Bushkill Township home of the 14-year-old where he picked both her and her 15-year-old friend up and took them to Bethlehem. It is not clear from the complaint how Parker knew the two teen-age girls. The complaint alleges that after they all went to Parker’s home…

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Crime News

Police: Nazareth Man Broke Handcuffs at Station

Bethlehem Police say Jeffrey Barlow, 22, broke his handcuffs and tried to run away. He was quickly caught and charged with escape.

  A Nazareth man in custody on suspicion of drunken driving broke his handcuffs while in custody at Bethlehem Police Headquarters and tried to run away early Tuesday, police said. Jeffrey Barlow, 22, of 111 W. Allen St., was arrested after he was observed driving without headlights at night and turning without signaling, according to a crime summary provided by city police. While he was waiting to be processed, police said, Barlow began to strike his double-locked handcuffs off of a bench, causing the locks to disengage. Barlow then stood up and began to walk away, police said. Barlow was quickly apprehended and re-secured to the bench in police headquarters a little after 2 a.m., police said. He was charged with escape and criminal …

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2 Allentown Men Charged in SouthSide Shootings

Rene Figueroa, 32, is charged with killing Yolanda Morales. Javier Rivera-Alvarado, 38, is charged with firing multiple shots in deadly, chaotic melee.

Anti-Violence Vigil Draws 50 to Street Where Woman Was Killed

A candlelight vigil for peace was held on a Bethlehem street where a gun battle last weekend outside a Puerto Rican club left one woman dead and five others hurt.

  More than 50 people stood in a parking lot along E. Third Street in South Bethlehem Friday night to hold a candlelight vigil for peace, to speak out against gun violence on city streets and to pray for the young woman who was gunned down a few feet away six nights ago. “We need to start healing as a community,” said Guillermo Lopez, a longtime Bethlehem community activist and one of the event’s organizers. “Yolanda Morales died much too young.” Bethlehem Police on Friday charged Rene Figueroa, 32, of Allentown, with homicide in the death of Morales, a 23-year-old from Bethlehem. Police also charged Javier Rivera-Alvarado, 38, also of Allentown, who is also accused of firing a gun during the melee. An argument between two men inside the …

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Crime News

DA: Minor Incident in Club Led to Deadly Gun Fight

Yolanda Morales, 23, followed confrontation out onto E. Third Street before she was hit by gunshot. Police trying to sort out who is responsible for Bethlehem woman's death.

  A chaotic and deadly gun battle on E. Third Street apparently began with a minor confrontation between two groups of people who did not know each other before Saturday night, according to Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli. By the time it ended, about 30 bullets had been fired, a young woman was dead and five men were wounded – one perhaps seriously enough to be paralyzed, according to the DA, who held a news conference Monday to explain what law enforcement knows about the shootout outside of the Puerto Rican Beneficial Society that claimed the life of Yolanda Morales. Morales, 23, of 1249 Randolf Road, Bethlehem, died of a gunshot wound to her body, according to Lehigh County Coroner Scott M. Grim, who ruled the …

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Police Clear Andretti of Damaging Gate

Video surveillance from parking garage confirms Andretti's version of events, police said.

Bethlehem police have cleared IndyCar driver Marco Andretti of any wrongdoing after reviewing video footage of vandalism that broke the exit gate at the North Street Parking Garage. As Andretti had explained to The Express Times, a man in the car behind his got out and broke the gate Thursday night as he attempted to get the automated payment system to work and lifted the gate arm, according to a police news release. Also, according to police, a man telephoned the Bethlehem Parking Authority Friday morning and claimed responsibility and offered to pay for the damage. “Based on the investigation, the City of Bethlehem Police Department will not take any action against Mr. Andretti,” the police news release said. Andretti, of Bushkill …

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11:46 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012

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