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Police Blotter

By Staff | Dec 1, 2009

Ex-township employee faces forgery charges

A former employee of Mill Creek Township was arrested Wednesday on charges of allegedly forging nine township checks to himself and cashing them for about $3,000, according to state police.

Michael Taylor, who is on probation, has been charged with nine counts each of forgery, theft and bad checks.

Police allege he wrote the checks between Sept. 10 and Oct. 14, adding that at the time, he was a township employee. Police did not say what his position was.

Taylor, 28, of 2091 Field Station Road was arraigned before District Judge C. Roger McRae and committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $35,000 bail.

2nd judge jails man after other charges dismissed

Just after a district judge dismissed one case against Laughlin Bernard Jennings Jr., the 58-year-old Muncy area man found himself before another judge who arraigned him on another set of charges.

Due to a lack of evidence, District Judge Jerry C. Lepley tossed out 50 state police counts against Jennings, including 10 counts each of identity theft, access device fraud, forgery, theft and receiving stolen property.

The charges stemmed from allegations that Jennings set up more than a dozen bogus accounts by using credit cards he put in his father’s name between mid-2006 and late 2007.

During that time, Jennings racked up expenses of just over $41,000 on the cards, police allege.

Shortly after Lepley dismissed the case on Wednesday morning, Jennings of 528 Reuben Kehrer Road was taken before District Judge Allen P. Page III to face state police charges of forgery and making false statements.

These offenses stem from Jennings allegedly forging Charles Hill’s name on a landlord form at the Lycoming County Assistance Office, 400 Little League Blvd., on Nov. 5. Jennings was committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $2,000 bail.

Burglary suspected in gun theft

Various handguns were stolen last week from a Washington Township home state police said was burglarized.

Sometime between 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and 2 a.m. Thursday, someone reportedly stole an unspecified number of guns from the 8307 Sulpher Springs Road home of Guy J. Steinback, 41.

Police have yet to determine who stole Steinback’s guns when they somehow gained entry into his Allenwood home undetected.

Flatbed trailer stolen

MILTON – A flatbed trailer loaded with steel beams and valued at $41,000 was stolen from the All-American Petro Truck Plaza in Turbot Township, state police in Milton said.

Someone reportedly stole the 48-foot Benson trailer filled with 26 beams sometime between 10 p.m. Nov. 8 and 5:45 a.m. Tuesday from the Route 254 plaza.

Police said Mark Harris, 45, of Middleburg owns the stolen items.

Driver Crashed Into His Own Home

HUGHESVILLE – A South Second Street man has been charged with drunk driving after he crashed into the side of his house, according to borough police.

“Arrest me. I’, drunk. I’m stupid and I’m sorry,” Michael J. Speath II, 32, told police when they pulled up at his home at 362 S. Second Street about 12:10 a.m. Sept. 11.

Speath said he “and his girlfriend got into an argument after they had been out drinking. He stated he got in his car, took off very fast, and when he turned into his driveway, he missed it, hitting a fence and then his home,” Patrolman, Jason Gill said in an affidavit.

Speath, who had a blood alcohol content level of .16 has been charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants, police said.

Drug Charges Filed Against Prison Visitor

MUNCY – Denice Watson, 54, of Erie has been charged by state police with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after corrections officers at the state Correctional Institution at Muncy discovered the controlled substance in her purse when she came to the jail to visit an inmate on October 11.

A sign posted at the the front gate at the jail on Route 405 in Clinton Township warns all visitors that they and their vehicles are subject to a search at any time. Watson has been sent a summons before District Judge C. Roger McCrae.

Woman Hurt In Crash

A woman was hurt when her car slammed into a garage on Gregg Run Road in Wolf Township last Wednesday around 11:45 p.m. In yet another crash, three people were hurt when a car overturned on Route 442 in Moreland Township three hours later,