Police Log, 8/18/2025
NORTHERN SCHUYLKILL – The following is a collection of police incidents reported in the northern Schuylkill area.
Flight
SHENANDOAH – A Gordon man was briefly jailed after police say he led them on a chase last Tuesday.
Gage Rinker, 19, of Gordon, was charged with felony fleeing by Shenandoah Police Patrolman Mark Hysock.
According to the criminal complaint, Hysock was monitoring traffic on the Gold Star Highway around 9:30pm when a dark Jeep with no headlights passed heading towards Frackville.
The Jeep had no license plate and fled at over 90mph before bailing off the highway onto coal mine property across from Gold Star Plaza. Officers kept up with the Jeep until the Gilberton coal processing plant.
Frackville Police headed of the Jeep in their borough. Rinker told police he “was afraid of what might’ve happened if he stopped” because the Jeep doesn’t have a plate.
Rinker was arraigned and committed to Schuylkill County Prison on 10% of $25,000 bail. Bail was posted the next day by a relative.
A preliminary hearing is set for August 28.
Burglary
LOST CREEK – Someone swiped a dirtbike and a welder from a West Mahanoy Township property earlier this summer and state troopers are investigating.
State Police at Frackville released information on the incident Thursday.
Troopers said some time between June 24 and July 24, someone swiped a Lincoln 220 MIG welder, motorcycle ramp, and a dirt bike from a property on Mount Olive Boulevard.
The dirtbike was found at a neighboring home later.
The investigation is ongoing.
Scattering Rubbish
GIRARDVILLE – A Girardville man was cited after state troopers said he dumped household waste on the roadside.
Kenneth Jones, 56, of Girardville, was cited Thursday for the incident.
According to State Police at Frackville, troopers spotted an ATV driven by Jones riding on Route 54 in Butler Township just outside Girardville.
He was stopped on West Mahanoy Avenue at Julia Street where he disposed of household waste and yelled numerous racial expletives while walking along the roadside, troopers said.
Theft
PRIMROSE – State troopers are investigating after they say two children’s bicycles were swiped from a home near Minersville.
The theft was reported around noon Thursday, State Police at Frackville said, at a home on Sunbury Street in Cass Township.
Two children’s bikes with training wheels, worth $100 each, were stolen.
Anyone with information should call troopers at 570-874-5300.
Vehicle Crash
RYAN TWP. – A Frackville man escaped injury after state troopers said he rolled his vehicle down an embankment on I-81 over the weekend.
The crash happened around 11am Saturday on Interstate 81 in Ryan Township near milepost 127.9.
State Police at Frackville said Luis Rodriguez Fermin, 40, of Frackville, was headed north on I-81 as it was raining. Troopers said he hydroplaned, left the highway, and rolled down an embankment.
He escaped injury, troopers said, but will be cited for the crash.
Criminal Mischief
HELFENSTEIN – A 43-year-old Shamokin man was cited after state troopers say he through a pair of sneakers at a passing van, damaging its windshield.
This happened in the 6700 block of Upper Road in East Cameron Township around 12:30pm August 10.
State Police at Stonington responded. Troopers said the man, whom they did not identify, threw sneakers from the porch and into the roadway. Those sneakers hit a van, driven by a 39-year-old Ashland man. It caused $150 in damage to the windshield.
The Shamokin man will be cited for the incident.
Animal Cruelty
SUMMIT STATION – State troopers are investigating after they say someone dumped multiple dead dogs and a living dog in the dumpster of a southern Schuylkill business.
State Police at Schuylkill Haven said they were called to a business on North Route 183 around 4pm August 14.
Troopers said someone had dumped trash into a dumpster. Inside the trash bags were multiple dead dogs and one living dog which was rushed to a local veterinary hospital.
The investigation continues.
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