Lansford police report arrests

Lansford police have made several criminal arrests.

Shaimar Williams, 27, 6 E. White St., Summit Hill, faces charges from an incident which took place on Oct. 14 at Springgarden and Bertsch Sts. Charges were filed by Officer Joshua Tom. Williams is charged with the following; Persistent disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and driving under suspension.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, at about 5 p.m. Tom and Officer Brian Horos received information about a driver with a suspended license operating a car. Tom saw the described car leaving the office of District Judge Casimir Kosciolek and stopped it. he identified the driver as Williams.

Williams, Tom wrote in the affidavit, "became unhappy and stated 'just write me a ticket'." Tom advised him to find someone to come get the car. Williams responded by telling Tom he is "not trying to go deal with all that."

As Tom wrote out a citation, Williams got out of his car and started walking away. Tom asked him to get back in the car and wait. He asked twice before Williams complied.

When Tom approached the car to explain the citation, Williams got out of the car and began making a scene and using obscene language. Tom advised him several times to calm down, but Williams replied "I don't give a (expletive) about these people."

Tom observed several people in the area, and gave Williams one last warning to stop cursing. Williams refused to comply and continued his actions. Both Tom and Horos advised Williams he was under arrest for persistent disorderly conduct. When Horos went to place Williams into custody, Williams pulled away, saying "You're not (expletive) arresting me!" and began walking away, yelling obscenities and ignoring police commands to stop. Horos and Tom chased Williams up the street to take him into custody. Williams was arrested without further incident. His car was towed by Million O'Clock Towing.

Seth Reinhart, 30, 222 E. Snyder Ave., Lansford, faces charges from an incident which took place on Aug. 2, 2008 at Patterson and Springgarden streets. Charges were filed by Officer Robert Shubeck.

Reinhart is charged with four counts of DUI, restrictions on alcoholic beverages, and driving without a license.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Shubeck saw Reinhart driving erratically east on Patterson street. He drove at about 10 mph for an entire block and waited for several seconds when the red light turned to green before pulling out. He then came almost to a complete stop before turning left onto Springgarden Street.

Shubeck stopped the car and noticed a strong smell of alcohol and saw that Reinhart's eyes were bloodshot and glassy. He took a long time to form a thought and answer simple questions, seemed to be in a daze and confused. Shubeck noticed a fresh pool of liquid on the driver's side floor mat. Reinhart did not answer when Shubeck asked him what it was. Reinhart fumbled as he tried to find his lighter, could not understand simple directions when asked for his driver's license and registration card. He stumbled as he got out of the car.

Shubeck found his driver's license had expired in June 2007. Reinhart failed field sobriety tests due to his inability to follow simple commands and instructions, and had very poor balance and coordination. He was arrested, and Shubeck found an orange bottle of white pills in his left front jeans pocket. There was an open can of cold beer within arm's reach in the car, along with three empties.

Reinhart was advised of the implied consent law and taken to St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital, Coaldale, for a blood-alcohol test. The test showed a 0.16 percent blood alcohol ratio and the presence of barbiturates.

Marretta McGeehan, 24, 105 Gypsy Hill Gardens, Lehighton, faces charges from an incident which took place on Nov. 16, 2008 on the 200 block of E. Patterson St. Charges were filed by Shubeck. McGeehan is charged with two counts of DUI.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, at about 3:30 a.m., Shubeck was in a marked cruiser parked on East Patterson St., facing Walnut Street. a black Honda Civic turned the corner from Route 902 and turned right onto East Patterson. The driver came into the far right side of the east lane almost hit the cruiser, then continued east. In the middle of the 200 block of east Patterson, the driver was traveling east in the westbound lane, straddling the yellow lines with the middle of her car for the length of about two houses. Shubeck followed at a high rate of speed and watched as he rode the white fog line, then drift back onto the yellow lines.

He stopped the car and spoke with the driver, whose speech was slurred so much he could not understand what she was saying. She had trouble providing her registration and seemed to forget what she was looking for after she gave him her driver's license, which identified her as McGeehan. Her eyes were red and bloodshot and her pupils were dilated. An odor of alcohol emanated from her mouth.

McGeehan told Shubeck she had been drinking earlier in the day and said she was just sleeping.

Asked how many beers she had, she answered "about a few hours ago."

He asked the same question again, and she didn't understand and again repeated her answer. She finally told him she had had a few drinks.

McGeehan failed field sobriety tests for lack of balance and coordination. Shubeck issued a portable breath test that showed a reading of 0.145 percent blood alcohol content. She was taken to Miners Memorial Hospital, Coaldale, for a blood test that revealed her blood alcohol ratio to be 0.19 percent. The drunken driving threshold is 0.08 percent.

Thomas Frey Jr., 35, 120 E. Early Ave. Coaldale, faces charges from an incident which took place on April 23, 2008 on E. Patterson St. Charges were filed by Shubeck. Frey is charged with terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, two counts of DUI, and harassment.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Shubeck was called to the Turkey hill Minit Mart for a road rage incident in which a man had pulled a gun. The victim, John Zwiesdak, was driving along Route 902 in his pickup truck behind a car being driven by Frey. Zwiesdak told police he passed the car because he thought it was pulling over.

Frey followed Zwiesdak to the Turkey Hill, confronted him about passing his car and started an argument. Frey then shoved Zwiesdak. When Zwiesdak entered the store, Frey stayed outside, taking pictures of his truck. When Zwiesdak got back into his truck and started to leave, Frey reached into his car, pulled out a shotgun, racked a shell into the chamber and told Zwiesdak "I'll shoot you."

Shubeck said that when he was talking with Frey, he noticed a strong odor of alcohol and asked Frey to submit to field sobriety tests. Frey failed the tests for lack of coordination and balance and was arrested for DUI.

Results of a blood-alcohol test were 0.17 percent. The drunken driving threshold is 0.08 percent.

Miriam Bynon, 18, 305 E. Patterson St. faces charges from an incident which took place on April 5 on E. Bertsch St. Charges were filed by Tom. Bynon is charged with illegal possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, at about 9:20 p.m., Tom was patrolling east Bertsch Street when he saw a group of people coming off the property of the former St. Ann's convent, which was posted with No Trespassing signs. The former convent, condemned by the borough in 2007, is now being torn down to make way for a parking lot for subsidized apartments.

The property and building had been recently vandalized, and copper pipes had been stolen. Tom stopped the group and asked them why they were on the property. He also asked for a voluntary consent search of their persons and bags, and all agreed.

Bynon was among them, and admitted that she had a glass pipe with marijuana residue in it. Tom also found a prescription pill bottle prescribed to Bynon. But the pills inside were not the ones prescribed to her. Bynon admitted the pills were muscle relaxers and other types of pills -she was not sure what. Tom seized the evidence and arrested her.