6 DUI Arrests Made in Borough in 3 Months

Hellertown Block Watch attendees recently received an update on borough crime statistics from group leader Ofc. Tim Piotrowski.

For the period beginning Feb. 1 through late April, Piotrowski said Hellertown Police made the following arrests:

Robbery - 1

DUI - 6

Theft - 4

Domestic Disturbance - 2

Bad Checks - 1

Terroristic Threats - 1

Drug Possession - 13

Assault - 2

Prohibited Offensive Weapon - 1

Disorderly Conduct - 1

Piotrowski said the robbery arrest police made was in connection with the November 2010 robbery of the borough McDonald's, which authorities announced earlier this year had been solved thanks to DNA testing.

He said police typically expect to make more arrests over the summer, because "as the weather gets warmer, the arrests generally go up."

Another highlight of the April 24 block watch meeting was a presentation by Northampton County Emergency Management Director Bob Mateff, who discussed the county's Mobile Command Center and invited attendees to tour it.

Mateff said the high-tech Mobile Command Center—which was purchased with funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—is typically deployed to large-scale events, such as Musikfest, and when local law enforcement need assistance over a long period of time.

For example, he said the command center was deployed to Hellertown several years ago when a suspicious package was discovered on a borough street.

"If you see suspicious activity, call it in," Mateff told block watch members.

In the case of the Boston Marathon bombing investigation, "it was a citizen who put an end to the manhunt, because they saw something, and then they said something," he noted.