Tamaqua police log
Tamaqua police reported on the following incidents:
• Police obtained a warrant for a homeless man who is accused of stealing $1,400 from a vape shop in Tamaqua around 4 p.m. March 31.
Police charged Robert Matlock Jr. 48, with theft by unlawful taking.
Police said they were called to the store on the 100 block of East Broad Street and spoke to the clerk, who said that he briefly stepped out of the shop and when he returned, money was missing from the register.
On April 17, the clerk sent clear video footage showing Matlock Jr., police said. The clerk also told police that he saw Matlock at a store in Hometown, and Matlock said he would return the money.
Matlock, however, has made no attempt to do so, police said.
• Police said Anthony Hallick, 59, of Tamaqua, was charged with driving under the influence following a 6:55 p.m. April 22 incident on the 300 block of Owl Creek Road. No details were released.
• Esperanza Gutierrez Olivia, 28, of Tamaqua, faces hit-and-run and other charges following a 3:50 p.m. May 16 crash at Lehigh and West Broad streets.
According to police, officers were called to scene and spoke to the victim, who said that his vehicle was struck by another vehicle. The victim said the driver did not stop at a stop sign, crashed into him and then fled the scene. The victim followed the driver, Gutierrez, and eventually got her to stop.
Police said Gutierrez refused to provide her license and registration. Due to a language barrier, another person translated and retrieved the woman’s name for police.
Police then determined that she did not have a license. Witnesses said that Gutierrez did not stop at the sign and smashed into the other vehicle.
She was charged with accidents involving damage to attended vehicle, careless driving, failure to yield to a stop sign and driving without a license.
Gutierrez’s vehicle was towed from the scene.
• Jammy Lawson, 54, of Tamaqua, did not turn down the jams and was cited.
Police said that around 7:42 p.m. May 18, officers were called to Lawson’s home on the unit block of North Greenwood Street for a noise complaint. Officers said it was the third time this month that police were called to the location for loud noise. Police said they warned Lawson twice this month, and eventually filed a citation.
In the most recent incident, police attempted to knock on the door but Lawson did not answer. Officers said that they then called him but he did not answer.
The person who complained about the noise said Lawson had a very loud speaker on his porch and was playing music with no one around. Police issued another citation.
• Police charged Nasahyjia Farmer, 19, of Tamaqua, with criminal mischief and terroristic threats, both misdemeanors, after she allegedly vandalized a house and sent threatening text messages.
According to police, the victim called police at 2:48 p.m. May 12 to report that Farmer spray-painted her porch and broke a flower pot. The woman said that Farmer also sent messages to her teenage daughters, including a photograph of the vandalized porch.
Police said Farmer made threats in the messages, including to assault everyone in the home.
The victim also showed police a video recording of Farmer at the house.
Farmer was arraigned before Tamaqua Magisterial District Judge Stephen Bayer, who set bail at $5,000 unsecured. She is to have no contact with the victims.
She was also cited for harassment and criminal mischief/tampering with property in the case.
• Kaylee Kern, 26, of Tamaqua, is facing charges of theft by unlawful taking and criminal trespass after she stole a truck and broke into a property earlier this month, police said.
According to police, officers were called to the 100 block of West Union Street around 6:45 a.m. May 7 for a suspicious incident. The caller told police that a woman had been driving a white Ford truck up and down the street since 6 a.m. The caller told police that she questioned the driver, later identified as Kern, and asked if she owned the vehicle. Kern said it was a friend’s truck and handed the caller a set of keys and walked away. The caller had the woman’s description.
Police located the owner of the truck who told police that he leaves the keys in the glove compartment. He said he parks the truck in a building and noticed a new lock on that building. He told police he didn’t know how the lock got there.
Police said the truck owner said nothing was missing from the truck or the building. He told police that the keys given to him by police did not have the truck’s key.
A few hours later, police were called to another residence where a burglary had occurred. Officers found Kern inside. Officers said she had the truck key in her possession, a black box and another key to a four wheeler that was inside the victim’s building.