In Brief

Lawton selects final Luzerne County division head nominee

First Posted: 11/26/2014 WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A city parking enforcement officer was charged Wednesday with stealing nearly $4,400 in parking meter funds from the city&#8217;s tax office.
Alfonzo Walker Jr., 59, of Wilkes-Barre, was arraigned by District Judge Martin Kane in Wilkes-Barre on charges of theft and receiving stolen property. He was released on $10,000 unsecured bail.
Walker has been suspended without pay, city spokeswoman Liza Prokop said.
A student at King&#8217;s College and an employee at Price Chopper in Edwardsville notified police about suspicious transactions at a Coin Star machine inside the grocery store when the student recognized man as a city parking enforcement officer.
Video recordings from inside Price Chopper identified Walker conducting transactions at the Coin Star machine.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police detectives began an investigation to determine if there was any connection between the transactions and Walker&#8217;s employment with Wilkes-Barre.
Walker allegedly made transactions at the Coin Star machine in Price Chopper on April 17, 18, 23, May 2, 15, 29, June 1 and June 6 as police were unable to find any evidence connecting Walker using the machine to his employment.
Police were notified on Nov. 20 that Walker entered the tax office&#8217;s vault and volunteered to count that day&#8217;s parking meter revenue to deposit in the bank. After Walker counted the money and left the vault, tax office employees told police they felt there was less money when Walker had entered the vault.
Video cameras were set up inside the city&#8217;s tax office vault to record movement of employees on Nov. 22.
Police said the cameras allegedly recorded Walker allegedly entered the tax office vault on Monday to collect the previous day&#8217;s meter revenue to deposit in the bank.
Police kept Walker under surveillance as he traveled to the bank to deposit the meter revenue. After leaving the bank, police stopped Walker allegedly finding a bag of coins he had taken from the tax office vault.
Mayor Thomas Leighton said he was disappointed a city employee was charged with stealing city revenue.
&#8220;I am extremely angry and disappointed that a city employee was found stealing government funds,&#8221; Leighton said. &#8220;As mayor, it is imperative that I can trust all city employees to perform their duties in a legal and professional manner. The actions of this particular individual are not a reflection of all city employees. The City of Wilkes-Barre has good, trusted employees and this incident should not tarnish the image of the law abiding individuals who serve the city.&#8221;
A preliminary hearing is scheduled on Dec. 11 before Kane.

Cops: Parking officer stole meter cash