2026 Nanticoke PD News
4/15/2026
Police seek Nanticoke man in Hanover Twp. shooting
jhalpin@citizensvoice.com
A woman who was injured in a domestic-violence shooting Tuesday morning drove to the Hanover Twp. Municipal Building for help, prompting authorities to close the township’s offices as well as a South Wilkes-Barre street while they sought the gunman.
Investigators on Tuesday afternoon obtained a warrant for the arrest of 33-year-old Nanticoke resident Jason D. Dates on aggravated assault charges. The complaint alleges he shot his ex-girlfriend, whom he had previously threatened to kill, in the thigh and inflicted non-life-threatening injuries.
At the municipal building on the Sans Souci Parkway on Tuesday morning, township police cruisers with flashing lights blocked off the parking lot as officers joined by a unit from the state police Forensic Services Unit worked the scene, examining a white vehicle that was stopped in front of the building with its driver’s side door open.
Township Manager Sam Guesto said police began an investigation after a woman who had been driving was shot at by another driver. The woman pulled into the parking lot of the municipal building, where police headquarters is located, seeking help, he said.
Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said the incident appeared to have begun as a domestic dispute that started at an area school.
The woman was treated at the scene and then transported to an area hospital for medical treatment, Guesto said.
The complaint filed by township police alleges Dates and the victim had been involved in an ongoing dispute about her belief that he was controlling her. The woman has an active protection-from-abuse order against Dates, police said.
On Monday, Dates had threatened to kill the woman if she wanted to play “cop games” and have him arrested, according to the complaint.
While the woman was dropping her daughter off at Lyndwood Elementary School on Tuesday morning, Dates confronted the woman and began an argument, according to the complaint.
Dates slapped the victim’s phone of her hands and then she bit him, police said.
The woman then left the area, but Dates pulled up alongside her at the intersection of Fellows Avenue and the Sans Souci Parkway and pulled a gun, according to the complaint.
Dates then fired a shot that went through the door of the woman’s white Acura and hit her left thigh, police said.
The woman drove for help at the police station, where officers applied a tourniquet before she was transported to an area hospital.
Investigators got a warrant charging Dates with aggravated assault, carrying a concealed gun without a license, making terroristic threats, simple assault, reckless endangerment and illegal firearms possession.
The complaint says police later found Dates’ black Hyundai Palisade on Miner Street in South Wilkes-Barre.
City police closed down a stretch of Old River Road as authorities searched for Dates in that area on Tuesday afternoon.
Hanover Twp. Police Chief Eric Richardson said the vehicle was unoccupied and police did not find Dates in that area. Police were still seeking his whereabouts and asked anyone with information to call 570-825-1254.
“We do know him to be in the Wilkes-Barre area,” Richardson said.
Nearby at 301 Old River Road, Wilkes-Barre Area School District officials said they interrupted a planned 11:30 a.m. early dismissal for Kistler Elementary School due to the police activity “out of an abundance of caution.”
“School administration remained in close communication with local law enforcement and resumed dismissal only after receiving clearance from authorities that it was safe to proceed,” the district said in a statement. “The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our top priority, and we appreciate the cooperation and understanding of our families and community.”
Hanover Twp. officials announced that municipal offices had reopened by 1:30 p.m.
4/15/2026
Court records: Alleged Hanover Township shooter fled area
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HANOVER TWP. — A Wilkes-Barre woman is facing allegations she gave a man wanted for shooting his ex-girlfriend a ride out of the area to avoid arrest on Tuesday.
Tierra Shanell Gilliam, 22, of South River Street, provided misleading information to negotiators claiming Jason D. Dates, 33, was hiding inside a residence on Old River Road in South Wilkes-Barre but phone records say the call was tracked to a cellular phone traveling south on the Northeastern Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, according to court records.
Gilliam and Dates were together in a vehicle when negotiators spoke with Dates and Gilliam at about 12 p.m. Tuesday, court records say.
During the call, court records say, Dates agreed to turn himself in but was traveling south on the turnpike.
Gilliam returned to Wilkes-Barre where her vehicle was found parked in the area of Park Avenue and South Street where she was detained and admitted she drove Dates out of the area.
Court records say Gilliam picked up Dates earlier on Tuesday in the area of Pennsylvania Avenue and Hazle Street after Dates allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend at Fellows Avenue and Sans Souci Parkway in Hanover Township at about 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Immediately after the shooting, the injured woman drove to the Hanover Township Police Department on Sans Souci Parkway where she summoned help.
A massive search commenced for Dates where his vehicle was found in the area of Old River Road and Miner Street. During the search, authorities received information at about 10:40 a.m. that Dates was hiding at 111 Old River Rd. and was armed with a rifle and waiting for police, court records say.
Old River Road was closed as a command post was set up in a vacant lot at West Academy Street and Old River Road, where negotiators spoke with Dates and Gilliam when they allegedly gave misleading information of their whereabouts.
Gilliam was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Kyle Halesey of Hanover Township on a single count of hindering apprehension. She was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $15,000 bail.
During Tuesday’s search, multiple sources say Dates is “well-known to law enforcement.”
Court records say Dates is scheduled to be sentenced May 8 for illegally possessing a firearm at a private bottle club on East Main Street, Plymouth, that was raided by the Pennsylvania State Police Liquor Control Enforcement Bureau in Wilkes-Barre.
Dates was previously sentenced to four-to-eight years in state prison in 2012 for illegally possession of a firearm in Wilkes-Barre, and sentenced to prison in 2011 for shooting at an occupied residence on South Empire Street in Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 14, 2010.
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4/6/2026
Nanticoke man charged with sexting nude pictures with teen
jhalpin@citizensvoice.com
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A Nanticoke man was arraigned Monday on an arrest warrant charging him with sending nude pictures of himself to a teenage boy.
Raymond Thomas Rittenhouse, 38, address listed as Field Street, was charged by Edwardsville police with sending lewd pictures of himself to the teenage boy, and soliciting the boy to send him nude pictures, according to court records.
The boy’s mother reported she discovered text messages and the pictures while reviewing her son’s cellular phone, court records say.
Edwardsville police obtained an arrest warrant for Rittenhouse on Oct. 3, 2025. Rittenhouse was apprehended Friday on the arrest warrant and two unrelated warrants issued by Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael T. Vough on Oct. 9, 2025.
Rittenhouse was arraigned by District Judge Joshua R. Moses on six counts each of possession of child sexual abuse materials and unlawful contact with a minor, and three counts of dissemination of explicit sexual abuse materials involving a minor. Rittenhouse was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $75,000 bail.
The capias warrants issued by Vough relate to charges by Kingston police alleging Rittenhouse operated an unregistered motorcycle with a fraudulent license plate, and by Luzerne Borough police for possession of a controlled substance and operating a vehicle with fraudulent registration documents, court records say.
4/2/2026
Former Nanticoke football booster club president sentenced for theft
elewis@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE — Having pled guilty to stealing more than $24,000 from the Nanticoke 12th Man Varsity Football Booster Club, Sterling Kepp admitted on Wednesday he spent the money on lottery tickets, online gambling and skill amusement machines.
Kepp, 48, of East Broad Street, Nanticoke, made the admission when asked by Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael T. Vough what he did with the stolen money.
Vough sentenced Kepp to three-to-23 months at the county correctional facility on a single count of theft. He pled guilty to the charge on Nov. 14.
Kepp was further sentenced to perform 30 hours of community service and pay $24,543.22 in restitution to the Nanticoke varsity football team’s booster club and $4,500 to the Nanticoke City Police Department for a forensic audit. Kepp was granted work release by Vough.
Kepp was charged by Nanticoke City police and Luzerne County detectives in March 2025, with stealing money from the booster club during his time as the club’s president from July 2022 to Oct. 8, 2023, when he abruptly resigned.
Prior to being sentenced, Kepp’s attorney, James W. Barr, challenged the amount listed in the forensic audit conducted by certified public accountant Karen M. Hazleton, which found $26,543.22 in unaccounted funds from the booster club during Kepp’s tenure as president
3/27/2026
Irate customer jailed after calling 911 on police
A Nanticoke man who grew irate while attempting to buy a utility vehicle from an Edwardsville hardware store threatened to decapitate employees and customers, then called 911 to report a responding police officer was “harassing” him, according to charges filed in court.
Randy Joseph Yost, 39, of 32 E. Grand St., was jailed without bail following a pair of disturbances that took place at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store in the West Side Mall on Thursday morning.
According to the complaint filed by West Side Regional Police, Yost initially showed up at the store before 6 a.m., apparently in an effort to purchase a utility task vehicle.
Police said Yost began engaging in “disruptive behavior” during his visit. He was told to leave the property and not come back.
Yost, however, returned around 8:30 a.m. and became “aggressive and loud” at the store’s professional services counter, according to police.
An assistant manager reported that Yost began saying he owns guns and planned to come back to shoot staff members and customers alike, police said.
Yost went on to describe his intention to decapitate them, put their heads in a bag and then “smash all of their heads,” according to the complaint.
When police arrived on scene, Yost led an officer to the front of the store where the UTVs are stored. He informed the officer that he had been buying one of the vehicles and did not plan to leave without it, police said.
The officer reminded Yost he had been ordered to leave the property. Yost then told the officer to “give me a ticket” and sat down in the vehicle he wanted, according to the complaint.
Yost was ordered out of the vehicle, but instead called 911 to request state police assistance because he claimed the officer was “threatening to arrest him and was harassing him,” according to the complaint.
Yost also noted that he was free on bail — court records show he was out on $3,000 unsecured bail while awaiting trial on resisting arrest and disorderly conduct charges that Nanticoke police filed against him earlier this month — and he suggested the call center deploy military police to the scene in addition to state troopers.
“It’s 911, you do what the (expletive) I tell you to do,” the complaint quotes Yost as yelling to the call-taker.
Backup officers soon arrived to the scene and arrested Yost without further incident. Police charged him with misdemeanor counts of defiant trespassing, disorderly conduct, making terroristic threats and calling 911 for a non-emergency matter.
Magisterial District Judge Joshua R. Moses arraigned Yost on the charges Thursday and denied bail, deeming him a danger to society.
2/11/2026
Nanticoke standoff ends in resident’s surrender
A Nanticoke man barricaded himself in his home following a domestic-violence assault on Tuesday afternoon, prompting a standoff that later ended in his surrender, police said.
Officers were dispatched to 148 Bliss St. shortly before 2:30 p.m. to a report of a domestic dispute and arrived to find Dustin Lee Ciampi, 28, had barricaded himself inside, police said.
Following a standoff, Ciampi eventually surrendered without further incident, police said.
Police charged Ciampi with simple assault related to the domestic dispute and brought him in for an involuntary mental evaluation. Additional charges were possible, police said.
The standoff drew a response from city police as well as state troopers and officers from Newport and Plains townships.
2/11/2026
Two juveniles charged with stealing from vehicles in Nanticoke
Times Leader
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NANTICOKE — Police in Nanticoke City say they charged two juveniles who allegedly stole items from vehicles.
Police were dispatched to West Washington Street after a wallet was stolen from a vehicle just before 1 a.m. Tuesday. A credit card from the wallet was used at the Cocoa Hut on East Main street shortly after the theft, police said.
Officers obtained descriptions of two suspects who used the stolen credit card and were encountered in the 1000 block of South Market Street at about 3:40 a.m.
When officers approached the suspects, one ran away but was captured.
Police say the suspects, ages 14 and 16, were runaways from Philadelphia.
A search warrant was served at a location where the juveniles were staying when police say they recovered items stolen from previous vehicle break-ins.
The juveniles were charged and turned over to juvenile authorities.
2/4/2026
Nanticoke man charged with possessing child sexual abuse images
Ed Lewis-Times Leader
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NANTICOKE — A man from Nanticoke was arraigned Tuesday on allegations he possessed and shared child sexual abuse materials.
Christian Edward Mavus, 24, of West Green Street, was charged with six counts of possessing child sexual abuse materials and three counts of dissemination of child sex acts. Mavus was arraigned by District Judge David Barilla of Forty Fort and released on $50,000 unsecured bail.
Court records filed by the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Computer Crime Task Force, allege Mavus uploaded and downloaded child sexual abuse materials from April to December 2025.
Troopers executed a search warrant at Mavus’ residence when he admitted he used accounts on a social media site to view child sexual abuse materials because he was “in a dark place,” court records say.
The investigation was launched as a result of several Cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
1/23/2026
$2.65M settlement reached in Nanticoke man’s death
jhalpin@citizensvoice.com
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the estate of a man shot dead by a Fish and Boat Commission officer in Luzerne County for $2.65 million, according to the Wheeling, West Virginia-based law firm Bordas and Bordas.
Sean Bohinski, 37, of Nanticoke, was fatally shot by an officer following a confrontation along the Susquehanna River in Plymouth Twp. on Oct. 24, 2017.
Bohinski’s mother, Peggy Boucher, filed a federal lawsuit in 2019 alleging the officer, Aaron Lupacchini, violated department policies and used excessive force during the confrontation.
The case was sent to Magistrate Judge Phillip J. Caraballo for settlement negotiations last February, and earlier this month the parties agreed to close the case following the agreement on the $2.65 million settlement, according to court records.
“I knew that it was up to me to fight for justice for my son,” Boucher said in a statement. “I wanted the world to know that he did not deserve to die and that the actions of the officer were not justified or lawful.”
According to the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office, Lupacchini was patrolling the river bank near the intersection of routes 11 and 29 on the afternoon of the shooting when he smelled smoke and found Bohinski using a machete to stir a fire that was burning the insulation from some copper wiring.
Suspecting the wiring was stolen, Lupacchini began conducting a pat-down during which Bohinski turned and struck the officer in the face, breaking his glasses and leaving a cut on his face, according to prosecutors.
Bohinski ran into the river, but then turned back in the face of a stiff current and hit Lupacchini a second time with a rock, prosecutors said.
Lupacchini attempted to defend himself with pepper spray and a baton, but was unable to due to dizziness and exhaustion, according to prosecutors. The officer then drew his pistol and shot Bohinski three times in the chest, killing him.
The district attorney at the time, now Judge Stefanie J. Salavantis, ruled the shooting was justified. No criminal charges were ever filed.
However, the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Bordas and Bordas alleged Lupacchini acted inappropriately during the incident.
“Through the deposition testimony of the individuals involved, including the officer who shot Mr. Bohinski, along with testimony from an expert in law enforcement, police procedures, and use of force, we were able to demonstrate that the officer violated procedures, used excessive force and that the death of Mr. Bohinski never should have occurred,” attorney Chris McCabe said in a statement.
An announcement about the settlement said the money has been received by his family and will help his mother, siblings and eight children move forward.
“This settlement demonstrates that my son should not have died and that his shooting was a wrongful act,” Boucher said. “It will also let his children know that their dad didn’t deserve this and hopefully will help provide them with assistance toward their goals in life and help them to know that he meant something while on this earth.”
Law firm managing partner Jamie Bordas noted that the case took close to a decade to resolve.
“This family wanted to vindicate Sean and show that the actions of the officer were wrong,” Bordas said. “We are pleased that were able to help them do that and hope that his will not only allow the family to get some closure, but also that it will send a message about what is and what is not appropriate conduct on the part of law enforcement.”
1/22/2026
Wilkes-Barre man charged in Facebook Marketplace robbery
The sale of a $300 cellphone via Facebook Marketplace turned violent in Nanticoke last month when the seller was attacked and robbed by three men — including the one who set up the deal, city police said.
Anthony Gomez Jr., 23, of Wilkes-Barre, is charged with robbing the victim, Angelkov Nika, near the Great China Restaurant at 175 S. Market St. on the night of Dec. 29.
According to the complaint, Nika agreed to sell Gomez a cellphone for $300, and the pair made the exchange without issue at a Turkey Hill Minit Market.
However, Gomez then began calling Nika, claiming he was having an issue with the phone, police said.
When Nika arrived to meet Gomez at the restaurant, he encountered Gomez and two other men, police said. One of the assailants attacked Nika from the front while the other two jumped in from behind, police said.
Nika reported being punched in the mouth and pistol whipped on the head during the assault, during which one of the men also displayed a black pistol in his waistband, according to the complaint.
The robbers took Nika’s Galaxy S24 Ultra cellphone, valued at $1,300, and a Gucci hat valued at $895 before fleeing the scene, police said.
Nika identified Gomez as one of the assailants, and investigators say they obtained a picture showing him at the restaurant’s counter prior to the robbery taking place.
Police charged Gomez with robbery, theft, simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.
Court records indicated Gomez was arraigned at Luzerne County Central Court on Wednesday morning and was released on $25,000 unsecured bail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Feb. 4.
1/12/2026
Nanticoke man charged in Hanover Township stabbing
Ed Lewis – Times Leader
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HANOVER TWP. — A man on state parole and free on bail stemming from an alleged physical disturbance in Nanticoke in 2024 is facing charges alleging he struck a man with a hammer and stabbed another person with scissors on Saturday.
Hanover Township police say they responded to a residence in the 500 block of Orchard Street where Eric Nicholas Keefe, 44, allegedly forced his way inside the home and struck a man in the face with a hammer. Keefe then allegedly stabbed another person in the abdomen with scissors, police say.
Keefe sustained non-life threatening injuries and was transported to an area hospital.
Police say once discharged, Keefe is facing charges of aggravated assault, burglary, terroristic threats, simple assault, defiant trespass and harassment.
Court records say Keefe is free on $10,000 unsecured bail stemming from a physical disturbance in the area of West Church and Fairchild streets, Nanticoke, on Sept. 21, 2024.
Nanticoke police in court records allege Keefe approached three people who were working on a vehicle and initiated a physical confrontation.
Keefe is facing a trial on a disorderly conduct offense before Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough scheduled Jan. 16.