The first criminal court date of the new year in the Tamaqua court of District Judge Stephen Bayer proved to be extremely busy on Jan. 5. A number of defendants had their cases withdrawn or dismissed, two elected to have their cases heard, one man failed to appear and others waived their preliminary hearings to the county court level. Charges that were waived will be published in a separate article.

Johnathan C. Hindermeyer, 37, of 227 Pine St., Tamaqua, was in court in connection with an arson fire on Nov. 4 in Tamaqua. He was named as a co-conspirator in a case in which a vacant building was set on fire to allow for the theft of firefighters' equipment. Patrolman Anthony Stanell charged him with conspiracy to commit theft, conspiracy to receive stolen property, corruption of minors and theft from a motor vehicle. The defendant reportedly acted as a lookout for the juvenile male who set the fire and stole the equipment, which was then placed in a Jeep owned by Hindermeyer.All of the charges were held for court trial.Hindermeyer remains free on $10,000 percentage bail.Dennis Walter Helfrich, 43, of 318 E. Union St., Tamaqua, was in court on charges filed by two different police departments. A charge of retail theft and one of receiving stolen property, filed by Rush Township patrolman Douglas Litwhiler, were bound over for court trial after the judge heard his case. A second count of retail theft was dismissed. The charges were filed after a Dec. 3 incident.Helfrich remains free on $10,000 percentage bail on those charges.Tamaqua patrolman Thomas Rodgers charged Helfrich with retail theft in connection with a Nov. 13 incident. That charge was waived to county court.Helfrich posted bail in that case, 10 percent of $2,500.Failing to appear was Richard B. Simons Jr., 54, of Harrisburg. Simons was charged with improper display of official documents, driving with a suspended license, driving without insurance and improper registration of a vehicle after the death of its owner. He was stopped by Rush Township police at 8:56 p.m. Oct. 3. The vehicle he was driving had an altered registration sticker.Since he failed to appear for his hearing a warrant will be issued for his arrest.Having their charges dismissed were:Matthew Hedrick, 37, of 279 Market St., Tamaqua, charged with simple assault and harassment;Brian D. Correll, 45, of 33 Spring Garden St., Lansford, charged with making terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment;Brad Charles Frye, 34, of 379 Hazle St., Quakake, charged with criminal attempt to commit criminal trespass, harassment, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.Defendants who had their charges withdrawn were:Jerry Joseph Feathers, 25, of Tamaqua, charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment;Marissa Garcia, 22, of Mahanoy City, charged with conspiracy and receiving stolen property;Dylan Danko, 23, of Tresckow, charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia were withdrawn, while charges of operating a vehicle without a valid inspection and operating a vehicle without insurance were moved to traffic offenses.