Police Blotter

Limerick

The Limerick Township Police Department logged 130 incidents between Sept. 7 and 11. Of the incidents, 6 were deemed false alarms.

Among the calls to which the police responded were the following incidents of note, along with a few reports from last week that have now been closed.

Retail Theft Involves 11-year-old

On Sept. 11 at 2 p.m., responding Officer David Bartok was dispatched to Kohls on Township Line Road for a retail theft. Upon arrival, he was introduced to Alessa A. Dudley, 42, of Norristown and her 11-year-old daughter. Bartok was told the two were responsible for a theft attempt that just occurred.

According to witnesses, both entered the store an hour earlier and raised suspicion with loss prevention when it was seen that Dudley had a Kohls bag tied up in her cart. It was noticed on surveillance that Dudley's daughter put a pair of earrings between two pair of jeans and walked into her mother's fitting room. The two came out with a few pairs of clothing in the cart, but the dressing rooms were empty. In one of the jeans returned to the shelf, price tags were found to the stolen earrings, worth $7.80, and the jeans and shirts stolen, which combined for $295.38.

The two went to customer service next and then left the store with the original bag appearing larger than when they entered. They did not buy anything before leaving the store. They were approached outside of the store and brought back in when found to have stolen the aforementioned items.

Residential Arson on Ridge Pike

Limerick police were dispatched on Sept. 9 around 10:12 p.m. for a report of arson at a residential home. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the Wheelers, who had no idea that a Volkswagen Beetle had been on fire in the driveway. The fire was extinguished before officers arrived.

The Wheelers' son, Sean, 23 of the residence in Limerick, had a strong odor of alcohol on him and was reported to have been using profanities toward his father and police officers. The neighbor was also involved, Colin Ferguson of Elio Court in Limerick. Ferguson later gave testimony that he and Wheeler had committed the arson. They were both housed and bail was set at $5,000 at 10-percent. Their preliminary hearing is on Sept. 19.

The following cases were submitted to Patch by Police Chief Kevin Schurr.

DUI and Leaving the Scene Reported in Royersford

Police were dispatched to N. Third Avenue and Chestnut Street around 10:35 p.m. on Sept. 9 after receiving reports of a suspect leaving the scene of an accident. Both the operator and striking vehicle were located near the scene of accident. The operator was identified as John Deisher, who was operating a 2010 white Ford Explorer.

Deisher exhibited signs of being under the influence of alcohol. He was tested and subsequently arrested for DUI. He was transported to Pottstown DUI center for further breath testing. Charges are pending against Deisher, 25, of Trappe.

Minors in Possession of Marijuana in August

On Aug. 8, a complaint was received about several juveniles possibly in possession of marihuana inside of Victory Park at 250 Second Ave.  One of the males, a 14-year-old out of Lafayette Hill was discovered to be in possession of marijuana. The juvenile male was cited on Sept. 7 for the violations and summoned to juvenile court.

Magic The Gathering Theft?

Police received a report from a vehicle owner who resides along N. Fourth Avenue and Main Street that between Aug. 28 and Sept. 2, someone broke or gained entry into his vehicle and removed a large quantity of "Magic The Gathering" trading cards. The value of the theft is several thousand dollars. Anyone with any information on the theft is asked to call police.

DUI Driver Heads into Limerick

Royersford police made an attempt to pull over Derek Coletto, 24 of Philadelphia on the 700 block of Main Street in Royersford on Sept. 13 around 8 p.m.

According to police, the vehicle displayed an equipment standard violation. The police attempted to pull the vehicle over by use of lights and siren and the driver of the jeep failed to yield and continued to travel into Limerick. The vehicle eventually came to a stop on Township Line Road at Buckwalter Road. The operator exhibited signs of possible impairment, was tested on scene with field sobriety test and subsequently failed. Coletto was arrested and taken to PMMC for a blood draw for further testing to determine the level of impairment. DUI and related charges are pending.

The following report came to Patch from the Pennsylvania State Police Skippack.

Three-Vehicle Accident on 422 in Limerick

A vehicle crash was reported on Sept. 13 around 9:53 a.m. at mile marker 179.8 in Limerick Township.

The crash occurred when Mark Schlarbaum, 41 of Newtown Square was traveling westbound on 422. James Stout, 58 of Warminster stopped his vehicle on 422 West due to roadwork occuring in the area. Erica Bechtel, 27 of Phoenixville, was also traveling west on the road  directly in front of Stout's vehicle.

Schlarbaum, who was behind Stout, failed to stop, according to the report, causing the front portion of the vehicle to impact the rear portion of Stout's vehicle. The impact pushed Stout's vehicle 100 feet forward, causing the front right corner of his vehicle to hit the rear part of Bechtel's vehicle.

Schlarbaum was taken to Pottstown Hospital to be treated and will be cited for careless driving.