Police Beat

Businesses and a preschool were prepared for the worse in Montgomery Township when a suspected hazmat incident was believed to be unfolding at I-T-W Polymers and Coatings on Commerce Drive. Fire officials say, alarms went off just before two Wednesday, when a chemical reaction in a research lab caused gases to spread throughout the facility. Fire officials discovered that the gas was not a threat. Businesses and the pre-school stayed inside their buildings, shutting off heating and air-conditioning systems, until just after 3pm, when the incident ended. No one was injured.

Lansdale Borough Police say a suspected drug dealer is at large. Police combed the apartment of 36-year-old, Frank Cristea after securing a search warrant on April 19th. They found various drugs, ranging from p-c-p and Xanax pills to seven grams of cocaine, pot and scales, along with more than 14-hundred dollars in suspected drug money at Cristea’s apartment on the 500 block of West 8th street. Cristea faces 10 charges, including possession with intent to deliver.  

The theft of scrap metal was just the beginning of a day long saga for a Lansdale man in the early morning hours of January 12th that eventually led to his arrest at his former wife’s home in Montgomery Township. 31-year-old Edward Soloman Jr. now faces the prospect of spending 11-to-22 years in prison after pleading guilty. Police say he stole scrap metal from a Lansdale business and fled in a car when confronted by officers, driving through the streets of Lansdale at a high rate of speed. Soloman’s frantic escape attempt ended after he busted in to his ex-wife’s home in Montgomery Township, where officers found him hiding in a bathroom. Soloman posted bail, and is free until sentencing.  

A Bucks County man will spend at least eight years in jail for stabbing his pregnant girlfriend last April.   25-year-old Glenn Witherspoon of Airacobra Street in Bristol Township has a history of mental illness and was smoking marijuana laced with animal tranquilizer when he attacked the victim and nearly killed her.   During the sentencing hearing, his ex-girlfriend read a statement saying she still has nightmares about the attack.  She also said the financial burden of raising the son she had with Witherspoon is hard to bear.