Police Log, 1/5/2026
NORTHERN SCHUYLKILL – The following is a collection of police incidents reported by local law enforcement agencies in our region.
Theft
SHENANDOAH – A Shenandoah man is in Schuylkill County Prison, accused of swiping a Metro by T-Mobile employee’s personal cell phone.
According to State Police at Frackville, the incident happened around 11am Dec. 27 at the store at Main and Oak Streets.
Troopers alleged Eric Morales Barreto, 36, of Shenandoah, entered the store and demanded the employee’s cell phone.
He then allegedly went behind the counter, shoved the employee, reached inside his pocket, and swiped the cell phone while assaulting him.
The employee was able to wrestle Barreto to the ground and retake the phone before fleeing and calling 911.
Morales Barreto is accused, too, of ransacking the store.
He was arrested on robbery, simple assault, attempted theft, disorderly conduct, harassment, and public drunkenness charges. He was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Edward Tarantelli and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $75,000 bail.
Harassment
KELAYRES – A Hazleton woman was cited for her role in a physical altercation.
The incident happened around 4:30pm on Dec. 22 at a home on Center Street in Kline Township, according to State Police at Frackville.
Troopers responded to a 911 hang-up call and found that an argument had turned physical there.
Jadinet Rossy Sanchez, 45, of Hazleton, allegedly grabbed a 38-year-old Kelayres woman “by her weave,” troopers said in a media release, “and yanked it out.” Troopers clarified it as an artificial hair extension.
Sanchez was cited for the action.
Trespassing
GILBERTON – Two men are facing charges after police say they were caught trespassing on mine lands in Mahanoy Township.
Luis Javier Hernandez-Gonzalez, 25, and Raul Barrera Montero, 29, both of Flemington, New Jersey, were charged Dec. 29 by Mahanoy Township Police Chief Jody Long with criminal trespass and related charges.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Long, a pickup truck with New Jersey plates was seen on the property of Gilberton Coal where two men were cutting down white birch trees and stacking them in the truck.
An employee of the company confronted the two men, told them they were trespassing, and were ignored.
Mahanoy Township Police confronted the two men, later identified as Hernandez-Gonzalez and Montero, who told officers they planned to sell the birch trees “for money for food.”
Both men were arraigned and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $25,000 bail.
Long’s complaint also notes that they are being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer, as both men are allegedly in the country illegally.
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