Pack Of Teens Allegedly Hurl Rocks At Vehicle, Threaten Driver After Vandalizing South Wilkes-Barre Business

WILKES-BARRE, PA — A pack of teenagers allegedly pelted a vehicle with a flurry of rocks before threatening the driver with a lead pipe, moments after the group vandalized a nearby South Wilkes-Barre business.

Steve Taren, owner of Wet Paint Printing & Design at 152 Horton St., said he recently witnessed a group of about 10 teenagers bending and ripping up about $2,000 worth of shrubs along the length of the building. Last year, Taren, 57, purchased and revitalized the 100-year-old abandoned woodworking warehouse to house the new location of his graphic and design business.

Taren said he had seen the teens in the neighborhood before and believed they attended Meyers High School.

Kimberly Rock, who at the time was picking up her son, Wet Paint employee Brian Casbeer, witnessed the vandalism and pursued the group on foot in an attempt to photograph them. One member of the group, who Rock said ranged from ages 8 to 18, appeared to be carrying a steel or lead pipe.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/153118080/

 

Once-Abandoned South Wilkes-Barre Warehouse Gets New Life Behind Colorful Upgrade

WILKES-BARRE, PA — A bare shell.

That was the state of 152 Horton St. in South Wilkes-Barre before Steve Taren pegged it as the new site of his graphic and design business.

Taren, 57, owns and operates Wet Paint Printing & Design out of the location. Before he purchased the property last year, the former South Wilkes-Barre woodworking warehouse was fully gutted — abandoned for five years as looters stripped it clean of anything remotely valuable.

“Every wire, every piece of copper, even the water meter which is made of brass, they were all gone,” Taren said.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/home_top-local-news-news/152665332/

Crime Fears Spark Wilkes-Barre Woman To Speak Out

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE — Her parents’ house on Gates Street is next door, yet Darla Carey doesn’t walk there by herself at night.

Car break-ins in her neighborhood, including her husband Dan’s, strangers passing by on the sidewalks and fear that crime has overrun the city have compelled her to take precautions for her safety and that of her family.

“We keep our porch lights on all night,” Carey said.  On those nights when she walks the 20 feet from her front door to her parents’, she said, “Dan walks me over.”

Carey echoes what some other people have been saying about an increase in crime and the city administration’s apparent refusal to acknowledge and deal with it.  In a David-and-Goliath moment last week, the diminutive mother of four grown children and a grandchild scolded Mayor Tom Leighton before a packed city council meeting for appearing not to care about the safety of the residents.

Read more:   http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/689201/Crime-fears-spark-W-B-woman-to-speak-out

5 Arrested In Wilkes-Barre Drug Raid

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE — Five people were arrested in a drug raid on Charles Street on Friday.

Wilkes-Barre police, with assistance from state police Troop P Vice Unit and Pennsylvania State Parole, initiated an investigation Friday into drug trafficking and prostitution in South Wilkes-Barre, according to a press release from city police.

As a result of the investigation, police obtained a search warrant for 171 Charles St.  While searching the premises, officers arrested Vanessa Gamble, 35, and Herbert Williams, 34, both of 171 Charles St.; Lauren Lizza, 24, of Throop Street, Scranton; Ryan Novick, 26, of Schuyler Avenue, Kingston; and Fabian Thomas, 30, of Hollenback Street, Plains Township.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/673262/5-arrested-in-W-B-drug-raid