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Charges dropped in some cases; defendants held for court in others

After hearing testimony in a criminal case, District Judge Christian Frey held An-Nissa Jones, 20, of 818 Park Ave., and Iyonna Eddins, 19, of Williamsport, on city police charges of terroristic threats, simple assault, criminal mischief and felony trespassing.

The charges stem from an incident in which they allegedly forced their way into an apartment at 331 Campbell St. and attempted to stab Diam Brown on the afternoon of March 17, city police said.

However, Patrolman Addison Gingrich, the lead investigator in the case, withdrew identical charges against Austin Murray, 21, of 750 W. Edwin St. Jones and Eddins are free on $45,000 bail each.

In another criminal case that Gingrich handled, District Judge Aaron Biichle dismissed a single count of simple assault against Hafiz El, 30, of 1154 Park Ave., after the alleged victim, Taijae Hill, failed to appear at El’s recent preliminary hearing.

El was charged after he allegedly punched Hill in the face in their home on March 17.

In another case, Gingrich last week withdrew charges of simple assault and harassment against Eric Sagan, 39, of 194 Front St., Linden, charges that were filed late last year.

Sagan was charged for allegedly punching Brian Kilgus in the face inside the Brandon Cafe, 410 Washington, on Sept. 26.

Concerning another criminal case, District Judge William Solomon dismissed two counts of theft and one count of receiving stolen property against Jeanette Koch, 52, of 301 Howard St., after she paid restitution to the victim and $176 in court costs.

The charges stem from at incident on March 18 when Koch allegedly removed money from a purse that another woman accidentally left in a shopping cart in the parking lot at the Weis Market, 1916 Lycoming Creek Road.

Store video showed Koch recovering the purse from the cart and then going to her Jeep briefly before turning the purse over to store personnel, Old Lycoming Township police said.

In another case at Solomon’s office, township Patrolman Michael Engel withdrew all charges against Robert Hanner, including possession of cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

The charges against Hanner, 44, of 170 Pinecrest Drive, stemmed from an alleged incident in the 1900 block of Green Avenue on Feb. 13.

Also at Solomon’s office, Javan Saldivar, 19, of 412 Charlotte Ave., South Williamsport, pled guilty last week to borough police charges of possessing marijuana and possessing drug paraphernalia in the 100 block of Winter Street in DuBoistown on March 6. He made arrangements to pay $493 in fines and court costs.

In another criminal case, three women will all face further court action on state police charges of allegedly attempting to break into Chanelle Carson-Valentine’s home at 1869 Hazel Drive in Loyalsock Township on the night of June 5.

Ijanae James-Wynne, 19, and Aliyah Luker-Johnson, 18, both of Harrisburg, waived their preliminary hearings on charges of attempted burglary, recklessly endangering, conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child while a third woman, Tafera Harris, 21, of 606 Center St., opted to have a hearing.

District Judge Gary Whiteman ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold Harris on all identical charges, however, police withdrew the endangering of a child charge in her case. All three women our free on bail.

During the break-in, the three women allegedly used pepper spray on Carson-Valentine and three other occupants in the home, including a 3-year-old girl, police said.

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