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MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2012
POLICE BLOTTER Two taken into custody after fight in Duryea
charge of obstructing administration of law functions. They were committed to the county prison and released Sunday afternoon after posting $10,000 bail each.
DURYEA – Police took two people into custody and another man was transported to the hospital after an altercation on Main Street shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday. Police from surrounding communities responded to the scene. Main Street was closed between Church and Hope streets while police searched the area for evidence. The street was reopened around 9:30 p.m. No other details were available.
HAZLETON - City police reported the following: • A 1997 Chevrolet Blazer owned by Sandra Prusak of Hazleton was parked on West 11 Street near Lincoln Street between 8:30 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday when it was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene. • Nielene Bogansky of Hayes Street reported a laptop computer and several DVD movies were stolen from her residence during a burglary between 2:45 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday. Anyone with information about the break-in is asked to contact police at 570 459-4940.
HAZLETON – Police arrested two men early Sunday morning in connection with an assault on North Wyoming Street and a report of shots fired near the Pine Street playground. Police responded to a report of a man pistol whipped near the Penn Palace Bar at 2:37 a.m. and found a man with large lacerations to his head and facial area. The alleged assailant, Victor A. Cruz-Romero of Hazleton, was located at 4:47 a.m. when police responded to report of shots fired. Police stopped a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer and detained the occupants including CruzRomero. A handgun used in the assault was found in the vehicle, police said. Cruz-Romero was charged with providing false reports to law enforcement, robbery, aggravated assault, harassment and recklessly endangering another person. He was arraigned by District Judge James Dixon in Hazle Township and committed to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $250,000 bail. Another man in the vehicle, Henry Carrasquillo-Diaz of Hazleton was in possession of a large knife and a small amount of cocaine, police said. He was arraigned by Dixon and committed to the county prison for lack of $50,000 bail. PLYMOUTH – A husband and wife were drunk when they fought with police responding to a report of a noisy party late Saturday night at 326 E. Railroad St., police said. According to arrest papers: Police were going to issue a citation to Sabrina Lambacher, the person responsible for the residence, after she refused to turn down the music that could be heard throughout the neighborhood, when a highly intoxicated Shawn Welles confronted them. Welles, 31, of Center Avenue, Plymouth, was yelling as he followed officer John Vanderlick to a police cruiser and grabbed the officer from behind. Vanderlick shoved Welles in the chest, but Welles continued to scream and took a fighting stance. When told he was under arrest, Welles backed up and jumped around with his fists clenched. Welles swung at Vanderlick and officer Anthony Gorey as they tried to take him into custody. While fighting with Welles, his wife, Amy Welles, 31, jumped on Vanderlick’s back. The officers and the couple fell and Vanderlick placed Amy Welles in handcuffs. Additional police units arrived and assisted with the arrest Shawn Welles. While in the back of a Kingston police vehicle, Amy Welles tried to kick out the side window. The couple were taken to the Plymouth police station and placed in separate holding cells. Amy Welles blamed her husband for her getting arrested. When he asked her why she jumped into the fight, she said, “I attacked a police officer to protect you because you had to be a tough guy.” The husband and wife each face charges of disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, harassment and resisting arrest. Amy Welles faces an additional
PLAINS TWP. – Township police reported the following: • Natthinan Yotlar of New York, N.Y. was arrested after a report of a disturbance around 1:45 a.m. Saturday in a room at the Red Roof Inn on state Route 315. Yotlar told police she lost a lot of money at the Mohegan Sun Casino at Pocono Downs and became angry, smashing the room’s television. Yotlar, who was under the influence of alcohol was uncooperative with police and taken into custody after a brief struggle. She was charged with criminal mischief, resisting arrest and simple assault and committed to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for an overnight arraignment. • Mario C. Romanelli of South Franklin Street, WilkesBarre, will be charged with public drunkenness after he was found staggering on North River Street at 3:37 a.m. Saturday. He was transported to his residence. • Jacob Thompson of Chestnut Street, Larksville, was arrested on evidence of driving under the influence early Saturday morning. Police responded to a report of a crash in the parking lot of Eddie’s Place Diner on 573 E. Main St. at 4:19 a.m. Thompson showed signs of alcohol impairment and was taken to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital for a blood alcohol test. Charges are pending the test results, police said. • Thomas Kobusky of Abbott Street was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, disorderly conduct and harassment following an assault at VJ’s Hideaway bar on Abbott Street around 7 p.m. Saturday. Dwayne Shimkoski of St. John’s Street reported Kobusky struck him in the face with a pool stick, police said. Shimkoski had severe facial injuries and was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center for treatment. Another bar patron, Deborah Lamoreaux, who was sitting at the bar, was struck on the face from a piece of the broken pool stick and suffered a contusion to her right temple area. She did not require medical treatment at the scene. Kobusky was taken into custody and taken to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for an overnight arraignment. • Kenneth Daniely of Reese Street, Wilkes-Barre, was arrested on drunken driving and other charges early Sunday morning after the car he was driving crashed into a garage on Mill Street. Daniely fled the crash around 2:22 a.m. and was found lying in a nearby driveway after a passenger, Cathy Flaherty, provided a description of him to police. Flaherty was bleeding from her face and head. Daniely showed signs of alcohol impairment and was taken into custody. He also was charged with driving while his license was suspended from a previous DUI, accidents involving personal injury, careless driving and accidents involving damage to unattended property. He was transported to WilkesBarre General Hospital for a blood alcohol test and committed to the county prison for an overnight arraignment.
DETAILS LOTTERY MIDDAY DRAWING DAILY NUMBER – 5-6-1 BIG 4 – 8-8-9-7 QUINTO – 0-6-7-1-5 TREASURE HUNT 08-10-21-23-27 NIGHTLY DRAWING DAILY NUMBER – 9-9-5 BIG 4 – 6-3-1-8 QUINTO – 3-4-6-2-0 CASH 5 05-09-13-33-35
BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Members of the Wilkes-Barre area police, fire and military services, wearing black, play their counterparts from the Binghamton area Sunday in the inaugural ’Hockey for Heroes’ game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Getting in the game for kids
By STEVEN FONDO Times Leader Correspondent
WILKES-BARRE TWP. -- The pucks were flying at the Mohegan Sun Arena as part of the inaugural Hockey for Heroes benefit tournament on Sunday. The event was organized by the Goals Foundation as a way to raise money for the children of police, fire department and armed services members who participate in ice hockey or figure skating. The local charitable organization is headed by J.J. Murphy,
former Wilkes-Barre city administrator. “The goal of the foundation is to raise money for youth sports programs, in general,” said Murphy. “I coached youth sports throughout the country and feel (sports is) a venue to learn team work, responsibility and positive life lessons.” Murphy said his foundation has donated to youth sports organizations, offering soccer, baseball and basketball. “In order for the local programs to qualify for a donation,
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they must complete a community improvement project as a group,” said Murphy. “We ask them to go out and clean an area park, ball field or city sports complex.” Murphy said his group has donated more than $10,000 to local youth sports programs, and past charitable efforts included building the playground at WilkesBarre’s Coal Street complex and donating it to the city. For additional information or to make a donation, go to goalsfoundation.com.
‘21’ film jumps past ‘Lorax’
HARRISBURG – One player matched all five winning numbers drawn in Sunday’s “Pennsylvania Cash 5” game so the jackpot will be worth $125,000. Lottery officials said 83 players matched four numbers and won $242.50 each; 3,450 players matched three numbers and won $9.50 each; and 39,058 players matched two numbers and won $1 each. The winning numbers in Saturday evening’s drawing of the Powerball game were: 11-14-49-55-58 Powerball: 30
OBITUARIES Black, C. Gordon Brace, Lucille Corker, Carolyn DiPipi, Carmen Feldmann, Nancy Fitz, Andrew Gubbiotti, Alexander Kipa, Mary Roth, Irene Zanta, Edna
By DAVID GERMAIN AP Movie Writer
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LOS ANGELES — Audiences headed back to school for the TV update “21 Jump Street,” which opened as the No. 1 weekend movie with $35 million. Sony’s action comedy starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as cops going undercover as high school students took down the animated hit “Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax,” which had been the top flick the previous two weekends. Studio estimates Sunday put Universal’s “The Lorax” in second-place with $22.8 million, raising its domestic total to $158.4 million. At No. 3, Disney’s costly sci-fi dud “John Carter” dropped sharply in its second weekend. The Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation took in $13.5 million, down 55 percent from its anemic opening weekend and lifting its domestic total to a measly $53.2 million. “John Carter” reportedly cost $250 million to make. While tanking in the United States, “John Carter” has done decent business overseas. It took in $40.7 million this weekend to push its international haul to $126.1 million and its worldwide total to $179.3 million. In narrow release, Will Ferrell’s Spanish-language B-movie spoof “Casa de mi Padre” opened solidly at No. 9 with $2.2 million. The Lionsgate release played in just 382 theaters, compared to 3,121 for “21 Jump Street.” Based on the 1980s TV show that made Johnny Depp a star, “21 Jump Street” casts Hill and Tatum as rookie cops posing as teens to root out crooks peddling a psychedelic new drug at a Los Angeles school. Rather than doing a straight update of the TV show, Sony turned “21 Jump Street” on its head for the big-screen, retooling it as a comedy that helped pack in the under-25 crowd, which made up half of the audience.
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Ice Cube, left, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are shown in a scene from the new top film ‘21 Jump Street.’
“I just think you had to make it relevant, and action comedy was the way to go. And they did make it very relevant to a young audience,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. “The guys, Jonah and Channing, were just killer together. They had incredible chemistry and certainly were the attraction for younger crowds.” Hollywood’s box-office hot streak finally cooled off a bit, with overall business down for the first weekend this year. Domestic revenues totaled $108 million, off 6 percent from the same weekend last year, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. That’s likely to be just a hiccup for Hollywood, though, with business expected to soar again next weekend as the adaptation of the best-seller “The Hunger Games” hits theaters. Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian said “The Hunger Games” could have an opening weekend well above $100 million and might surpass the $116.1 million debut of 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland,” which holds the record for best domestic premiere in March. Dergarabedian attended “The Hunger Games” premiere and said that “fans were lined up, camped out for days. I hadn’t seen that since the ‘Twilight’ movie. But unlike ‘Twilight,’ which was dominated by the fe-
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male audience, there’s huge interest from males in this movie.” With a huge summer season ahead that includes the superhero tales “The Avengers,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” Hollywood has a strong shot at setting a revenue record this year. So far, domestic revenues are at $2.16 billion, 16 percent ahead of last year’s. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. “21 Jump Street,” $35 million ($7 million international). 2. “Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax,” $22.8 million ($11.6 million international). 3. “John Carter,” $13.5 million ($40.7 million international). 4. “Project X,” $4 million ($5.6 million international). 5. “A Thousand Words,” $3.8 million. 6. “Act of Valor,” $3.7 million. 7. “Safe House,” $2.8 million ($3.5 million international). 8. “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” $2.5 million ($5 million international). 9. “Casa de mi Padre,” $2.2 million. 10. “This Means War,” $2.1 million ($9.2 million international).
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