×

Police blotter

2 men arrested on child porn counts

Two men, in separate cases, face charges for allegedly viewing child pornography on their home computers, according to court papers filed by the state Attorney General’s office.

This is the second and third child pornography case in which the Attorney General’s office has filed charges against local men in recent weeks.

Jerry Lee Rhinehart Jr., 29, of 690 S. Broad St., Jersey Shore, faces 14 felony counts of possession of child pornography, two counts of sexual abuse of children for disseminating child pornography and one count of illegal use of a computer.

The charges stem from Rhinehart allegedly viewing at least 14 images of child pornography between Aug. 9 and Aug. 14, according to an affidavit filed by Special Agent Nicole L. Laudeman. Following his arraignment Monday before District Judge Jerry C. Lepley, he was committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.

Laudeman has also charged Robert L. Pillot Jr., 38, of 148 Mohawk Drive, Wolf Township, with 15 felony counts of possession of child pornography, two counts of sexual abuse of children for disseminating child pornography and one count of illegal use of a computer.

Pillot allegedly viewed the child pornography in early August, Laudeman said. A forensic review of Pillot’s home computer revealed “three videos of apparent child pornography as well as at least 60 images of apparent child pornography,” the investigator said in an affidavit.

Investigators executed a search warrant at Pillot’s home on Oct. 21. Following his arraignment Monday before District Judge Jon E. Kemp, Pillot was jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Woman allegedly drove drunk to get child

A Montoursville mother has been charged with drunk driving after she drove her Jeep Cherokee while intoxicated to a house on Fairview Drive, where she was planning to pick up her son, according to borough police.

Jodi Lynn Olterdorf-Hansen, 39, of 1208 Pearl Blvd., arrived at the house in the 1100 block of Fairview Drive allegedly intoxicated about 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 23, according to borough Patrolman William Hagemeyer.

After the woman arrived at the house, the home owner realized right away that she had been drinking, Hagemeyer said. The home owner called police after Olterdorf-Hansen threatened to break a house window, the officer said.

When Hagemeyer reached the scene, Olterdorf-Hansen’s Jeep was in the driveway with its lights on and engine running. The woman told the officer she had driven to the property to pick up her son.

“I could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath as she spoke. Her eyes were bloodshot and glossy,” Hagemeyer said of Olterdorf-Hansen.

After failing a series of field sobriety tests, Olterdorf-Hansen was taken to a medical facility to have her blood drawn. Her blood-alcohol content level was .11, Hagemeyer said.

Charged with one count of driving under the influence of intoxicants, Olterdorf-Hansen has been sent a summons to appear for a preliminary hearing on Monday before District Judge Gary A. Whiteman.

POLICE BLOTTER

2 allegedly stole, sold camera, bag

HUGHESVILLE – Two people face theft-related charges in connection camera equipment that was stolen from Laura Christina Atkinson’s home at 154 Boak Ave. in Wolf Township overnight July 15, according to state police.

After 26-year-old Jeremy Roy Green, of 189 Wilson Road, allegedly stole the items, he conspired with Taylor Marie Dettrey, also 26, of Shamokin, in selling Atkinson’s camera and a camera bag to a second-hand store in Williamsport, police said.

Green has been charged with theft, theft by deception and receiving stolen property while Dettrey has been charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception. The two have been arraigned before District Judge Jon E. Kemp and released on $5,000 bail each.

Man allegedly stole electronics

Joseph Bryan Harris, 20, of 702 Second St., faces theft-related charges for allegedly stealing an $800 iPad, $200 iPhone and a $175 GPS unit from a woman’s car in the 300 block of Warren Street in Fairfield Township on Aug. 24, according to state police.

Harris then sold the stolen iPad to ecoATM at the Lycoming Mall, police said. The identity of the car’s owner was not listed in court papers.

Following his recent arraignment before District Judge Jon E. Kemp on charges of theft from motor vehicle, theft and receiving stolen property, Harris remains jailed in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail.

City man charged with theft

Nathaniel Robinson Jr., 56, of 2511 Linn St., has been charged with felony theft by deception for allegedly cashing a fraudulent $2,900 check at United Check Cashing, 451 Hepburn St., on Aug. 31, city police said.

Following his arraignment last week before District Judge James Carn, he was released on $8,500 bail.

Woman faces fraud charges

A California woman captured by West Virginia state police in a stolen car in mid-August has been brought back here to face two felony access device fraud charges for allegedly using an invalid credit card to obtain a $5,000 check, according to Montoursville police.

Police allege Frances Angela Nevarez, 37, of Citrus Heights, is accused of using the fraudulent credit card at the Jersey Shore State Bank, 820 Broad St., on Aug. 1, police said.

At her recent arraignment, District Judge James Carn asked her if she lived at the address listed on the criminal complaint.

“Yes, when not in jail,” Nevarez responded.

She was committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $12,500 bail.

Police blotter

City men face theft charges

Kalvin C. Bowman, 53, of 719 Pearl St., has been charged with receiving stolen property after city police learned he allegedly sold a stolen buck saw and iron rail for scrape in late July.

Police said the saw and rail were stolen overnight July 30 from Mark Corson’s home in the 2200 block of Cummings.

A bench warrant was expected to be filed for Bowman after he failed to appear for a recent preliminary hearing before District Judge James Carn.

In another criminal case, Darnell Lovell Kirkland, 49, of 631 Park Ave., also has been charged with receiving stolen property after investigators traced a stolen computer to his home, according to court records.

With the help of Kirkland’s internet address, investigators located Jason Kock’s stolen computer after obtaining a search warrant for Kock’s house.

The $1,800 computer was stolen in a burglary at Kock’s home in the 1900 block of West Fourth Street in early January 2012 and was recovered in mid-March.

Following his recent arraignment before District Judge Allen P. Page III, Kirkland was released on $1,500 bail.

Shoplifting alleged

Aaron Michael Williams, 19, of whose last known address was of the 1500 block of Northway Road, has been charged with misdemeanor shoplifting after he was caught allegedly trying to steal $49 worth of merchandise at Kohl’s, 251 William St., on Sept. 21, city police said.

Williams, who is now homeless, was arraigned before District Judge James Carn and committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail. This is his second shoplifting offense.

In another shoplifting case before Carn, Joshua Elden Rockwell, 26, of 25 S. Montour St., Montoursville, also has been charged with misdemeanor shoplifting for allegedly stealing $169 worth of merchandise from Gander Mountain, 66 Mall Parkway, Muncy, on June 29, state police said.

Following his recent arraignment, Rockwell was released on $5,000 bail.

Parents of fugitive face charges

CLARKTOWN – As Larry Dane Aunkst tried to elude the law in mid-August, the parolee spent the night in his parents’ home on Route 442, according to state police.

When troopers and county probation officers converged on the couple’s Muncy Creek Township property at 835 Route 442 about 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 18, Aunkst bolted from the house, but he was quickly apprehended by officers who had surrounded the home.

Aunkst was wanted for a probation violation. He was placed in the Lycoming County Prison.

The county’s probation department had been trying to catch the man since July 20 when he successfully eluded capture by fleeing his parents’ home and running into the woods, police said.

On that day, his parents, Larry Dane Aunkst Sr. 49, and 46-year-old Sherry Yvonne Aunkst, were told that their son, whose age and address were not available, was a fugitive.

The couple was warned that if they assisted him in any way to avoid capture in the future, they would face charges.

The son’s girlfriend, Nicole Renee Bierly, 28, of 1622 Sherman St., Williamsport, also was given the same warning.

Now the couple, along with Bierly, have been charged with hindering apprehension and prosecution after the son stayed at his parents house overnight on Aug. 17.

Bierly also stayed at the house with her boyfriend that night, police said.

Aunkst Sr. admitted he allowed his son to stay at the house even though he was a fugitive, Cpl. Derron Farber said in an affidavit.

“He said it’s always been one thing after another with his children and that he (pretty much) has given up trying to do anything in their lives,” Farber said of Aunkst Sr.

The couple and Bierly have been sent summonses to appear before District Judge Jon E. Kemp.

Animal cruelty alleged

PICTURE ROCKS – Amy L. Stackhouse, 42, of 12398 Route 220, was charged with cruelty to animals after the local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals seized from her home eight dogs and four cats the agency said were “neglected and ill treated,” according to court records filed at the office of District Judge Jon E. Kemp.

Three of the dogs had “skin problems and flea infestations and a fourth had a golf-sized growth on the eye,” according to an affidavit.

The animals were seized when the SPCA executed a search warrant at the Shrewsbury Township property on Sept. 4.

“A beagle was chained at the side of a shed in waist-high weeds with no shelter, no escape from the torment of insects, no food and no water,” the affidavit stated.

Stackhouse has been sent a summons to appear before Kemp.

Police Blotter

Hit and run, DUI alleged

JERSEY SHORE – Charges have been filed against a 42-year-old man after his SUV slammed into the West Co., 347 Oliver St., about 9:10 p.m. on Aug. 13, according to the Tiadaghton Valley Regional police.

John Dennis Shaffer, of 278 Shaffer Lane, has been charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants and accidents involving damaged to attended property (hit-run), police said.

When Shaffer’s vehicle hit the building, it hit the structure’s gas line, forcing the evacuation of the building and neighboring properties, police said.

Shaffer fled the scene in his 2007 GMC Denali, but a witness followed him to to his home, where police soon caught up with him.

An officer detected alcohol on Shaffer’s breath a noticed that his eyes were watery, police said. Unstable on his feet, Shaffer did poorly on field sobriety tests and his blood-alcohol level at the time was .16, police said. He has been sent a summons to appear before District Judge Jerry C. Lepley.

Man allegedly choked ex-wife

As he started to choke his ex-wife, Sean Howard, 35, told her “You’re going to need a PFA (protection from abuse order) now you bitch,” DuBoistown police allege in court papers.

Howard, of 101 Union Ave., picked up a potted plant and smashed it, covering the kitchen floor with dirt and pottery particles during a disturbance at Korntey Howard’s home on Edgewood Avenueon Sept. 23, police said.

Howard was arraigned later that night before District Judge Jerry C. Lepley on charges of terroristic threats, simple assault, criminal mischief and harassment, and committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $7,500 bail.

2 accued of sexual abuse

Two men, in separate cases, face sexual abuse charges, according to court records.

Travis Gregory Lurch, 21, of 6235 Route 220, Linden, has been charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault, state police said.

The charges stem from Lurch allegedly having inappropriate contact with a male child under 5 in Piatt Township in early August.

Already in the Lycoming County Prison on probation violation, Lurch was arraigned last week before District Judge Jerry C. Lepley and recommitted in lieu of $125,000 bail.

In the other case, Colton Daniel Lord, 21, of 293 Northway Road Extension, Linden, has been charged by Old Lycoming Township police with aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corrupting the morals of a minor for allegedly engaging in sexual activity on several occasions with a female between the ages of 12 and 16 between January and last month.

Police said the criminal acts occurred in Old Lycoming and Woodward townships.

Following his arraignment last week before District Judge James H. Sortman, Lord was released on $20,000 bail.

Woman accused of retail theft

Stealing merchandise from stores is nothing new for Tamia Sharee Fisher, according to court records.

The 28-year-old city woman already has eight prior shoplifting arrests, Montoursville police said.

Fisher was arrested yet again, this time when she allegedly tried to leave Walmart, 1015 N. Loyalsock Ave., about 1:50 p.m. on Aug. 29, borough police said.

Arraigned hours later before District Judge Gary A. Whiteman on a charge of shoplifting, Fisher, of 511 Fifth Ave., remains jailed in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Man accused of stealing from employer

Wayne E. Miller, of 301 Howard St., has been charged with theft for allegedly stealing $234 from the cash register at Puff’s while he was employed at the business at 1151 W. Fourth St. between late April and early May, city police said.

Miller, 40, has been arraigned before District Judge James Carn and released on $7,500 bail.

Driving high on heroin alleged

A 30-year-old South Williamsport motorist has admitted he “shot up six bags of heroin” two hours before he crashed his Nissan Altima into a parked car in the 600 block of Beeber Street about 1:45 p.m. June 30, city police said.

When police arrived on the scene, Stephen T. Russell, of 2639 Riverside Drive was “unsteady on his feet, sweating heavily and his eyes were glossed over,” an officer alleged in an affidavit.

Police allege Russell was under the influence of heroin at the time. Charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance, he has been sent a summons to appear before District Judge James Carn.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today