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Luzerne County chambers of commerce announce new initiative to support businesses amid coronavirus challenges

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Hazleton house fight leads police to wanted individuals

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; A New York City teen entered a guilty plea on Monday to charges stemming from a May theft of a vehicle that led to a pursuit.
				Andrell Spencer Stanford, 19, of Brooklyn, entered a guilty plea on one count each of robbery, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer and flight to avoid apprehension, all felony counts, along with a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief.
				Stanford entered the pleas on Monday before Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas.
				Stanford&rsquo;s pleas come from a mid-May incident, during which Leobardo Sosa told police he was sitting on Logan Street in Wilkes-Barre, in his 2003 Jeep Liberty, when a man suddenly approached the car, aimed a handgun at Sosa&rsquo;s head, demanding the keys.
				This individual was later identified as Stanford, who proceeded to drive away in the Jeep. Police say they spotted Stanford in the area of East Northampton Street and South Wilkes-Barre Boulevard.
				After police attempted to stop Stanford on East Market Street, Stanford first slowed down but then sped away, turning the wrong way onto South Welles Street.
				Stanford led police on a brief pursuit through downtown Wilkes-Barre, before crashing into a tree outside of McDonald&rsquo;s on East Northampton. He fled from the vehicle, running until he was eventually apprehended in the parking lot of Market Street Square.
				Stanford was additionally charged with counts of theft, receiving stolen property, driving without a license, possession of a small amount of marijuana and other related charges, but these counts were dropped in the pursuance of a plea deal.
				Stanford was also found to have an active warrant on a robbery charge out of New York City.
				After accepting Stanford&rsquo;s plea, Lupas set his sentencing for Nov. 18.
				In an unrelated case, Stanford, then 17, pleaded guilty to false identification to law enforcement stemming from an incident on Hillside Street on July 15, 2019.
				Police were flagged down on a report of several men shooting at each other and later found Stanford hiding on a porch of a residence in possession of an air rifle, court records say.

Man pleads guilty to May carjacking