Police Follow Footprints in Snow, Make Theft Arrest

Fresh footprints from a coating of newly fallen snow helped Palmer Township police track down a man they say broke into one vehicle on the 400 block of Avon Street and tried to break into four others on the same block around 4:30 a.m. Thursday.

Court records say Kevin Lee Huber, 43, of 826 Northampton St., Easton, got $3 in change from the one vehicle but also had $35.03 in loose change inside a blue and purple lunch bag when he was taken into custody about a half-hour later.

According to a criminal complaint filed by township Officer Christopher Watt:

—Working in darkness, police set out from Avon Street, which runs north-south and intersects William Penn Highway, in search of a man described by a resident as wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt. The resident said he yelled at the man—later identified as Huber—as he grabbed at vehicle door handles. The resident then saw Huber run toward William Penn Highway.

—Police spotted footprints leading from driveway to driveway along the block. Officer Steven Steckel followed the footprints from Avon through backyards to Arlington Street, which runs north-south just west of Avon. The footprints led farther west to Stones Crossing Road, and through more backyards to Jenna Lane, a small east-west street running off S. Nulton Avenue.

—The footprints then headed north. With other officers setting up a perimeter, Steckel followed the prints through a field and eventually took Huber into custody.

—In addition to the blue and purple lunch bag filled with change, Huber had a silver flashlight, "which he was able to use to look into vehicles."

—The resident who yelled at Huber then identified him as the man he saw pulling on the vehicle door handles.

Huber was charged with five counts of theft from a motor vehicle and single counts of possessing an instrument of crime and receiving sotlen property.

He was arraigned later Thursday by District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $35,000 bail.