Two picked up on warrants in Tamaqua

Hiding their faces as they passed police officers didn’t save two Tamaqua residents from going to jail on May 21.

An officer was on patrol at 10:15 p.m. in the area of Market Street, when he saw two people acting suspiciously, hiding their faces from him. He stopped and spoke to them and was told they were just coming from 407 Willing St., a residence where suspected drug activity was reported earlier that day.

When asked for identification, both provided names and dates of birth that proved to be false. They were eventually identified as Robin Lynn Erney, 26, of 423 Hazle St., Tamaqua, and Michael Mattox, 26, of Tamaqua. A records check found a warrant for Erney, for a retail theft case, and multiple warrants for Mattox, from Tamaqua and West Penn Township Police, for drug related and false identification cases.

They were both taken to the Schuylkill County Prison in Pottsville to answer to the warrants.

Erney faces an additional charge of providing false ID to police. Mattox also faces additional charges, for lying about his name, and for possession of drug paraphernalia as officers found three pipes, one with residue, when they searched him before taking him to prison.