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Friends of the Pittston Memorial Library holding sale to reduce its overstock of books

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Candidates for Wilkes-Barre mayor agree on change, differ on strategies

<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; A Wyoming man who went missing for a week now finds himself charged with stealing from a resident at a veterans&#8217; nursing home.</p><p>Charles Edward Stark, 51, was arraigned Sept. 23 on charges of unlawful use of a computer, theft and tampering with evidence, according to court papers.</p><p>Six days later, Stark posted $5,000 bail, court records indicate.</p><p>Veterans Affairs Police say Stark on Sept. 3 removed a tablet computer from a resident&#8217;s room, only to replace it on Sept. 6 &#8212; one day before he reportedly went for a bike ride and didn&#8217;t return. Stark was found several days later in Ohio.</p><p>District Judge Diana Malast scheduled a preliminary hearing in the matter for Oct. 6.</p><p>According to a criminal complaint, Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center Community Living Center (CLC) resident Brian Haupt purchased a Kindle Fire HD tablet on Sept. 1 for $117 from the Veterans Canteen Service Patriot Store.</p><p>Security footage from Sept. 3 shows Stark, a nurse&#8217;s aide, leaving the resident&#8217;s room carrying a bag containing a box-shaped object similar to the tablet&#8217;s packaging just minutes after the resident left his room in his wheelchair, the complaint says. The resident reported the device missing later in the day, and police say security footage indicates no one other than Stark entered the room.</p><p>The complaint says word spread among staff concerning a criminal investigation into the missing tablet, and on Sept. 6 Haupt reported Stark found the device in the bottom of a clothes hamper. The resident told VA police Stark plugged the tablet into an electrical outlet and put its box away, all without Haupt&#8217;s consent, police say.</p><p>Stark allegedly told police he was putting a password on the device.</p><p>The complaint says security footage shows Stark entering and exiting Haupt&#8217;s room several times on Sept. 6, on one occasion leaving with a clothes hamper, heading to a laundry room and returning to Haupt&#8217;s room two minutes later with the hamper and a box.</p><p>Haupt then reported the device had been found, police say.</p><p>According to the complaint, Haupt told police at least eight different people had searched his room and the laundry basket prior to Stark claiming to find the device, and police say one nurse&#8217;s aide said she had searched the basket the night before.</p><p>Another VA employee told investigators later in September that Stark contacted her about his role in the device&#8217;s disappearance and admitted to her he attempted to synchronize the tablet with his cell phone, the complaint says.</p><p>Police say Stark admitted to disposing of an outer layer of the tablet&#8217;s packaging, which investigators say was evidence in the criminal investigation, because he said he believed it was soaked in urine. The complaint says Stark did not admit to stealing the device.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Stark </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_print_stark.jpg</photo0><caption0>Stark </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By James O&#8217;Malley</p><p>jomalley@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach James O&#8217;Malley at 570-991-6390 or on Twitter @TL_omalley.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Once-missing Wyoming man charged in theft from VA resident’s room