BLOOMSBURG — Two teenagers who caused at least $7,650 in damages and stole artifacts from buildings at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds told police they were “bored” and went on a crime spree, according to court documents.
Jerry Lee Derr III, 18, of 116 W. First St., Bloomsburg, and a 17-year-old Bloomsburg boy turned themselves in last month after the Old Schoolhouse and the Barton House were broken into and vandalized, police say.
MIFFLIN TWP. — Don’t take Interstate 80 west through Mifflinville on Valentine’s Day if you’re in a hurry to get home to your sweetie; the left lane will be closed as workers clean up a diesel fuel spill.
The fuel spilled into the median during an earlier accident, said PennDOT spokesman Dave Thompson. Since then, it has been under a protective covering to shield it from rain while the company responsible for cleaning it up sent soil samples to a landfill and elsewhere for analysis.
BLOOMSBURG — A doctor facing trial on charges he had indecent and inappropriate conduct with a teen girl in his medical office at Geisinger Medical Center is headed to jail after pleading guilty Monday to two counts of harassment.
Dr. Abraham J. Layon, 67, was given an “aggravated” or more serious sentence that includes 10 days in prison along with $1,300 in fines by Judge Gary E. Norton due to the circumstances of the case.
UNION TWP. — A woman tried to put out a fire in her house with a bucket of water, but was driven back by smoke, she said late Saturday.
The blaze at 12 Trailing Pine Road here, about a mile north of Shickshinny, started on the second floor, and spread through the house.
Crews were dispatched around 10:30 p.m.
Carol Pollick says she went upstairs with a five-gallon bucket of water to try to douse the flames, but was overcome by smoke.
Pollick said she believes her husband, Chris, may have inadvertently started the fire.
NESCOPECK — A man used plastic salad bowls filled with water to douse the flames blossoming from a vacant house next door, but the fire rose up again and ate through the walls.
Still, Nescopeck Fire Chief Harry Knorr said the house at 12 Schley St. should still be salvageable after volunteers knocked down the blaze.
Janet Knoblauch said her husband, James, woke her, shouting, “Get the hoses out! Call 9-1-1!”
At first, she thought she was dreaming, she said. But when she got up, she saw the front corner of the neighboring house was aflame.
BLOOMSBURG — A 39-year-old man arrested and jailed for burglarizing a Locust Township home last month was discovered “with injuries” in the prison shower and taken to the hospital, where he died, officials say.
Damon Patrick Knouse was found by a guard in a shower stall in Housing Unit A on Saturday morning at 11 and taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he was pronounced dead at 11:54 a.m., according to David Varano, warden of Columbia County Prison.
The types of injuries Knouse suffered and the manner of his death have not been released.
SALEM TWP. — A big public hearing on whether to create an Agricultural Security Area here has been rescheduled after officials learned that the township may already have such a region.
“We need to know if we are holding a hearing for the establishment of an Agricultural Security Area or an extension of an Agricultural Security Area,” said township solicitor Anthony McDonald.
FISHING CREEK TWP. — Malfunctioning heat tape likely caused a fire that destroyed a trailer and left two people homeless Friday morning, said one of the residents.
Teresa Rankin, 51, and her fiance, Ed Sherwood, 63, weren’t home when the blaze broke out at their 10 Mountain Road home around 11 a.m. Their water pipes had frozen that morning, so Rankin wrapped them in heat tape and left to buy a heater.
BLOOMSBURG — A pickup truck crashed into the Pizza Hut here on Thursday afternoon, taking out much of the building's west wall, leaving the inside of the business in shambles and injuring a store delivery driver.
The truck, a Ford F-150, entered the McDonald's parking lot from Route 11, jumped the curb between the fast food eatery and the pizzeria and smashed through the side of the building, as staff readied the restaurant for customers.
The trucks two occupants, a male driver, and a female passenger, were briefly trapped inside the vehicle.
SCOTT TWP. — A pregnant woman fell out of a vehicle and into a ditch along the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 Wednesday morning after her vehicle traveled off the highway.
The woman was alert and talking after the 9:20 a.m. accident, said Espy Fire Chief Ken Carey.
The woman was traveling along the westbound lanes when she lost control of a Chevrolet near mile-marker 237, about a mile east of the Lightstreet/Bloomsburg exit.
Carey said the woman, who was traveling alone, is six months pregnant.