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Several people charged with crimes in Lycoming County

A second Philadelphia man has been arrested and jailed for his alleged involvement in the holdup of a Chinese food deliveryman who was robbed at gunpoint while making a delivery in the 400 block of Glenwood Avenue about 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 1, according to city Patrolman William Dauber

Kyle Aiken, 20, has been arraigned before District Judge Aaron Biichle on felony charges of robbery, carrying a firearm without a license and conspiracy as well as misdemeanor charges of simple assault, theft and receiving stolen property.

The victim, who was not identified by name in court papers, told investigators that as he was making a delivery, a man approached him from the front and the victim thought the man was there to receive the order, Badger said.

However, a second man armed with a gun approached from behind and “placed the gun against the victim’s neck,” the officer said in an affidavit. The first man reached in the deliverman’s pockets and stole $30, a cellphone and a set of keys, Badger said. The two robbers then bolted from the scene.

Aiken was committed earlier last week to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $125,000 bail. Co-defendant Derek Patterson, 20, also of Philadelphia, was arrested a little more than two weeks after the robbery and is awaiting trial. He is free on $25,000 bail.

Also arraigned before Biichle on a robbery charge in another case was Mickel Hall, who, on his 20th birthday, allegedly robbed a woman of $50 while she was pumping gas in her car at the Turkey Hill, 700 Washington Blvd., about 6 p.m. on June 18.

“Hall approached the woman and stated ‘Give me your money.’ The victim stated she didn’t have any money, to which the male responded ‘I know you have money. Give it to me,'” city Patrolman Thaddaeus Trafford said in an affidavit.

Fearing for her safety, the woman “reached in her vehicle and gave the man $50 in cash. The man left the area and was last seen on Railway Street,” Trafford said.

Shortly before 8 p.m., police were called to the store to investigate a report of a man, later identified as Hall, who was “soliciting patrons,” Trafford said. The man had already left the premises when Trafford arrived, but it was at this point that the officer first learned of the earlier robbery from the victim, not identified in court papers, who called the store while Trafford was there.

A short time later, Hall did return to the store and was taken into custody without incident, Trafford said, adding that the victim was then brought to the scene. She “positively identified” the man as the one who allegedly robbed here. Initially jailed, Hall, who has since waived his preliminary hearing, is now free on $50,000 bail.

In another case before Biichle, Gage Shumbat, 27, of 115 Huffman Ave., faces charges stemming from a disturbance at The Bar, 341 Market St., about 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 25, according to city Patrolman Thomas Bortz.

Shumbat “intentionally became violent” when he was asked to leave the premises, Bortz said in an affidavit.

“He began violently and recklessly swinging his arms and fists at many people, hitting bouncers and other employees,” Bortz said, adding that one former employee, not identified by name, was punched hard in the face and was taken by ambulance to UPMC Williamsport, where he was treated for a fractured nose.

Charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct and harassment, Shumbat waived his preliminary hearing and is free on $5,000 bail.

The judge also has handled numerous narcotics cases, including the state police arrest of an alleged drug dealer who was caught after Trooper Aaron Brown stopped a Subaru Forester because the driver was driving with no lights on about 9 p.m. on June 18.

Brown said he smelled an odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle as he approached the driver. The driver and all passengers were ordered out of the car. There was a black backpack on the floor of the front passenger seat, where Russell Smith, 37, of 798 W. Edwin St., had been sitting before exiting the vehicle.

When Brown began to search the backpack, Smith said there was marijuana in it. From the backpack, the trooper “removed two opened large freezer bags containing marijuana,” according to an affidavit.

Smith was taken into custody and the backpack was brought to the state police barracks, where Brown continued his search of it.

From his seizure, Brown recovered 65 grams of marijuana, a box of sandwich bags, a digital scale, more than $600 in cash and $4,000 in money orders, according to court records.

Following his arraignment on charges of possession with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, Smith has been jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail.

In another drug case, Robert Eugene Confer, 31, of 5186 Route 14, Trout Run, was held for court on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia following an incident in the 800 block of Locust Street about 12:45 p.m. on Sept. 30, according to city Patrolman Nicholas Carrita. He is free on $2,500 bail.

Joshua Lockett, 32, of New Millport, waived his preliminary hearing on identical charges that were filed by city police Cpl. Richard Hofford following an incident in the 200 block of William Street on Jan. 2. He is free on $5,000 bail.

Jersey Shore resident Tiffany Toner, 38, of 400 S. Broad St., waived her hearing on a misdemeanor charge of contraband for allegedly bringing six white pills of the drug gabapentin into the county prison when she was being committed on a bench warrant on Feb. 15, according to Tiadaghton Valley Regional Patrolman Tyler Bierly, who took her into custody after responding to her home to handle an unrelated incident. She is now free on $5,000 bail.

Concerning another drug case, Morgan Gaston, 38, of 21 W. Fourth St., faces charges of possessing eight bags of marijuana, possessing a cigarette dipped in pcp and possessing drug paraphernalia in the 12500 block of Route 220 in Porter Township on May 10, according Tiadaghton Valley Regional Patrolman Tyler Bierly. He is free on $1,500 bail.

Additional charges have been filed against accused drug dealer Hakeem Lomax, 27, of Philadelphia, according to new court papers field recently by state police.

In the latest case, Lomax allegedly sold 10 bags of heroin-fentanyl to an informant for $90 at Tenth Avenue and Isabella Street last July 23. Charged with possession with intent to deliver and delivery of a controlled substances, he is free an additional $95,000 bail.

He was arrested on similar charges in mid-March for allegedly selling three bundles of heroin-fentanyl to an informant in the 1200 block of West Fourth Street and was already free on $95,000 bail on these charges.

A driver’s failure to use a turn signal in the 1600 block of Andrews Place in the city resulted in her being stopped and charged, along with her passenger, with a felony drug offense after the woman handed over a bag of bulk heroin that she had been hiding in a private area of her body, according to the county Narcotrics Enforcement Unit.

Minutes after the 1:30 p.m. stop on May 20, the driver, Samira Belamari, 20, of Drexel Hill, Delaware County, reached into a private area and voluntarily turned over the bag, according to court records. She claimed she had been holding it for her passenger, Malikaah Alwan-Johnson, 18, of Philadelphia, who handed over a small bag of marijuana after the detective detected “a strong odor of marijuana” coming from inside the car. No charges concerning the marijuana were filed.

Belamari and Alwan-Johnson were both charged with one count of possession with intent to deliver heroin and jailed in lieu of bail set by District Judge Christian Frey; Belamari’s bail was $125,000 while Alwan-Johnson’s was $150,000 bail.

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