Police Log, 4/22/2025
NORTHERN SCHUYLKILL – The following is a collection of police incidents reported by local law enforcement agencies.
Vehicle Accident
LOCUST VALLEY – Two children were flown to an Allentown area hospital when the UTV they were aboard crashed in Ryan Township over the weekend.
The crash happened around 1:16pm Saturday at at a farm on Front Road.
According to State Police at Frackville, a 10-year-old girl was driving a Polaris Ranger UTV on a farm field with her 5-year-old brother with her.
The girl lost control of the UTV and struck a tree. The boy was ejected, troopers said.
Both were flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital – Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township.
Drug Possession
MOREA – A Philadelphia woman is facing charges after state troopers say she tried to smuggle suboxone strips into a state prison, hiding them in her bra.
Shannel Williams, 28, of Philadelphia, was charged Monday with felony contraband and possession with intent to deliver.
According to State Police at Frackville, she is accused of hiding 30 suboxone strips in her bra as she tried to enter the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy.
She was committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post 10% of $25,000 bail.
Robbery
HAZLETON – A Hazleton man is in Luzerne County Prison after police say he robbed the Pantry Quick on East Diamond Avenue last week.
Santiago Cintron Castellano, 32, of Hazleton, is facing felony robbery, misdemeanor theft, and related charges for the incident.
According to Hazleton Police, officers were called to the Pantry Quick at 145 East Diamond Avenue around 8am Thursday for the incident.
There, a man had entered the store and began taking lottery tickets while the clerk said it appeared he had a gun.
He fled towards 1st Street.
Security cameras in the area saw the man leave the store and walk up Seybert Street, to 1st Street, to Hayes Street, and finally to a home near East Diamond and Morris Lane.
Police sought a search warrant for the home and arrested Cintron Castellano. He was arraigned and committed to Luzerne County Prison, unable to post $100,000 straight cash bail.
Vehicle Accident
UNION TWP. – State troopers are investigating after a mailbox was taken down by a vehicle earlier this month near Ringtown.
This happened around noon April 6 at Little Mountain Road and Aristes Road.
A vehicle headed north on Little Mountain Road struck a mailbox and fled the season.
No description of the vehicle was provided.
Anyone with information should call State Police at Frackville at 570-874-5300.
Trespassing
MAHANOY CITY – A Lehigh County man is facing felony burglary and trespassing charges after borough police here say he walked into a woman’s house without permission.
Rafael Rodriguez, 23, of Bellflower Way, Upper Macungie Township, was charged Thursday by Mahanoy City Police Corporal Charles Kovalewski.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called April 13 around 11am for an unwanted person.
There, Rodriguez was seen by responding officers knocking on the front door of a home on West Mahanoy Street. He was told he was not wanted there and to leave. He did, driving away in a black Cadillac.
Police later learned he doesn’t have a driver’s license.
The man had stopped by the home around 10:30am looking to see a woman who lived there. Their relative said they weren’t home and he left.
About 15 minutes later, he came back, walking into the home without knocking. He went upstairs and came back down, sitting on the couch next to the aforementioned relative, telling them he loved them and asked if they wanted his number.
He went outside as the woman he was seeking was arriving home. She drove on and waited for him to leave. When he did and she returned, she saw he was waiting outside in his car and she called law enforcement.
He was arrested and arraigned on felony burglary and trespassing charges.
He is free on $50,000 unsecured bail and a preliminary hearing is set for May 1.
Burglary
McADOO HEIGHTS – A McAdoo Heights man is in Schuylkill County Prison on felony charges, accused of breaking into a home with an axe and a baseball bat.
Patrick McCarthy, 41, of Mountain Top Terrace, was charged April 13 by State Police at Frackville with felony burglary, criminal trespass, misdemeanor simple assault, reckless endangerment, among other charges.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Trooper Joshua Yates, police were called to Mountain Top Terrace in Kline Township around 10:30pm April 12 for a reported burglary.
Troopers had previously been called to the residence that day for a report of harassment by McCarthy.
Responding troopers saw him walking east on Mountain Top Terrace and told troopers he entered the home through the garage, looking for the previous owners.
Two victims told police they were upstairs when they heard a bang from the garage. They saw a man, later identified as McCarthy, at the top of the first flight of stairs holding an axe and a baseball bat. He was asked to leave but kept asking where the previous owners were.
When he was told they weren’t there, police say he swung the axe and bat threatening the homeonwers.
Eventually, he left, police said.
He was arraigned and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $50,000 bail.
A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.
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