Police find woman who removed ankle monitor

It didn't take long for police to track down a Tamaqua area woman after she removed the ankle monitor she was wearing while under house arrest.

Latia Matrician, 22, was staying at her grandfather's home in Rush Township with an ankle monitor, under terms of her probation on drug-related charges. Late Saturday into Sunday, she removed the monitor, took her grandfather's car and left the premises. Probation officials notified local police to be on the lookout for her in a green Buick and provided the license plate information.

A Tamaqua officer was on patrol at 3:51 a.m. Sunday when the license plate reader on Unit 178 "found" the Buick in the area of 115 Catawissa St. Officers from Tamaqua, Rush Township and the Schuylkill County Adult probation office contacted the renter of 115 Catawissa, Deborah Mundo. Mundo denied any knowledge of Matrician being in the home, but suggested her daughter, Alyssa Bensinger, was home and might possibly know.

Officers were given permission to search the home. They found Bensinger and Matrician hiding in the attic of the home.

Matrician was escorted to the Schuylkill County Prison in Pottsville.

Charges are pending against Bensinger.