FBI called to dismantle seized pipebomb that turned out to be fake

Lycoming County Prison inmate Shawn Thomas Oliver, already incarcerated on felony drug charges, faces an additional offense of possession of a facsimile of a weapon of mass destruction after law enforcement officers came upon what looked very much like a pipebomb while executing a search warrant inside his Wolf Township mobile home on March 6, according to an amended affidavit.

Referring to the pipebomb, the 32-year-old Oliver said “I made that, and then my friend and I blew them up in the creek,” he told members of the county’s Narcotics Enforcement Unit who came to his residence at 152 Boak Ave., lot 72, just outside Hughesville, with the warrant.

An FBI bomb squad was needed to disable the device, which turned out to be a fake, it was stated in the court document. Thirteen firearms and an estimated 1.500 bags of fentanyl were found and seized, resulting in the immediate arrest and incarceration of Oliver’s roommate, Sara Lynn Hittinger, a 45-year-old convicted felon who was charged with felony firearms and drug offenses. Oliver was arrested and jailed four days later on identical drug charges.

At her recent preliminary hearing before District Judge Kirsten Gardner, Hittinger was held for court on the original charges along with conspiracy to possession with intent to deliver fentanyl and methamphetamine, offenses that were added to the original complaint. The lead detective in the case also amended the number of seized fentanyl bags, increasing the amount from 1,500 to 2,000 bags.

Besides the felony charge related to the fake pipebomb, detectives also added the two conspiracy drug charges to Olver’s complaint at his scheduled preliminary hearing, which he waived last week. Both he and Hittinger remain locked up in lieu of $150,000 bail each.

Woman arrested for shoplifting for the fourth time

Habitual shoplifter Chesney Ann Wheeler, 47, of 2021 Misner Road, apartment 1, has been arrested on her fourth shoplifting offense as well as other charges stemming from her stealing $139 worth of merchandise from the Weis store at 1916 Lycoming Creek Road between Jan. 21 and March 1, Lycoming Regional police alleged in an affidavit.

Besides one felony count of shoplifting, she faces additional charges of theft by deception, theft and receiving stolen property for allegedly stealing an additional $155 worth of merchandise from the supermarket through deceptive means between Jan. 22 and March 15; police said.

Arraigned last week before District Judge William Solomon, Wheeler was released on $10,000 bail.

South Williamsport man jailed on multiple felonies

Sean David Beam, 44, of 117 W. Sixth Ave., South Williamsport, has been arrested on state police charges of burglarizing another man’s maintenance garage at 38 Harvest Moon Park in Woodward Township on three occasions between Jan. 21 and Jan. 23, it was alleged in an affidavit. An estimated $10,000 worth of tools along with $275 worth of scrap metal were stolen in the break-ins, police said, adding that shortly after the burglaries, several of the stolen items were recovered from Beam’s home while troopers executed a search warrant. Police also seized a plastic bag of suspected cocaine as well as some drug paraphernalia, it was stated in the court document. Following his arraignment last week before Gardner on three felony counts of burglary, one felony count each of theft and receiving stolen property as well as three misdemeanors: possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and theft of secondary metal, Beam was jailed in lieu of $35,000 bail. Beam was arrested last year by the county’s Narcotics Enforcement Unit for allegedly selling oxycodone pills in the borough in mid-March, according to court records.

New England woman charged with causing an estimated $3,000 damage to parked vehicle

Lisa Dow, 65, of Belmont, New Hampshire, has been charged with criminal mischief after causing an estimated $2,900 damage to a man’s car by “keying” the side of it while it was parked in 500 block of West Southern Avenue in South Williamsport on Aug. 23, borough police alleged in an affidavit filed at the office of District Judge Gary Whiteman. She has since waived her preliminary hearing an is free on $5,000 bail.