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‘Golden Oldies Spectacular’ set for Friday at the F.M. Kirby Center

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Suspect arrested in Rite Aid robbery in WB

Kidnapping counts outin Salem Township caseWILKES-BARRE &#8212; Luzerne County prosecutors Tuesday withdrew kidnapping and child endangerment charges against Wilber Adonay Ayala, 28, who was accused of taking his live-in girlfriend&#8217;s 5-year-old boy during a domestic dispute Jan. 27.Salem Township police charged Ayala when he allegedly took the boy against the wishes of his live-in girlfriend during an argument inside their East Third Street home near Berwick.Ayala and the boy were found by Sugarloaf Township police at the Pilot Truck Stop on Route 93 in Conyngham. The boy was unharmed but did not have any shoes at a time when temperatures were only in the 20s, court records say.At a preliminary hearing in Luzerne County Central Court, prosecutors withdrew charges of kidnapping, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of children against Ayala.He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was fined $273.75, records show.A preliminary hearing on charges Ayala failed to secure the child in a safety seat was continued to April 1.Mocanaqua manwaives hearingWILKES-BARRE &#8212; A Mocanaqua man charged with driving a stolen 1999 Ford Mustang waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Luzerne County Central Court.State police charged Stefan Jerome Farmer Jr., 21, of Nicley Street, with driving a stolen Ford on Feb. 8. The vehicle was stolen from a residence on Old Tioga Turnpike in Fairmount Township, state police said.Farmer waived a single count of receiving stolen property to county court.Hazleton man facestrial over roostersWILKES-BARRE &#8212; A Hazleton man charged with raising roosters that were shipped to Puerto Rico for cockfighting will face animal cruelty offenses in Luzerne County Court.Alexandro Martinez, 40, of North Wyoming Street, was charged after an investigation that began when postal employees at the Hazleton Post Office in December noticed roosters in a container.A label on the container led authorities to Martinez, court records say.Two roosters were inside the container that was being shipped to Puerto Rico.Martinez appeared Tuesday for a preliminary hearing in Luzerne County Central Court where a district judge forwarded four counts each of animal fighting and neglect of animals to county court.Charges withdrawnin domestic incidentWILKES-BARRE &#8212; Salem Township police withdrew charges against a couple related to a domestic dispute that involved gunfire.Claudia Kathie Benshoff, 21, and her boyfriend, Fred Curtis Dourand, 20, were charged after police investigated a dispute at their residence on Second Lane on Jan. 20.Dourand was upset because Benshoff would not let her younger brother go snowboarding with him. During an argument, Benshoff allegedly grabbed a firearm and fired a round in an unknown direction, court records say.Dourand drove away but returned, nearly striking her with a vehicle.At a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Luzerne County Central Court, police withdrew charges of discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, simple assault and reckless endangering against Benshoff.Charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment were withdrawn against Dourand.Psychological eval orderedin murder-for-hire plotWILKES-BARRE &#8212; A woman accused of ordering a hit on her ex-husband and his new wife will be evaluated by state mental health professionals.Agnes Marsicano, 63, of Drums, is charged with attempting to hire someone to kill her ex-husband, Dwight Bicking. Later changing her mind, she asked for his new wife, Amy Metzger Bicking, to be killed instead, police say.Marsicano was allegedly contacting an undercover police officer to orchestrate the hits, unbeknownst to her.Court records show that, late last week, Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough ordered Marsicano be evaluated by a state psychiatrist.She will be evaluated to determine if she is competent to stand trial.Marsicano remains locked up at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. Her trial is currently slated to start March 11.<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Ed Lewiselewis@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div>

Court Briefs