MAHANOY CITY — A Mahanoy Township man was jailed early Thursday morning after allegedly robbing a juvenile in Mahanoy City hours before.
Stephen M. Bolish, 23, of 112 Roosevelt Drive, Morea, was charged with one felony count of robbery and one misdemeanor offense each of theft, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge James K. Reiley, Pottsville, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $25,000 straight cash bail.
Mahanoy City police Patrolman Christopher Zubris charged Bolish in connection with an incident about 11 p.m. Wednesday in the borough.
At about 11:10 p.m., the juvenile and her mother approached Mahanoy Township Police Chief Brandon Alexander, saying the child had just been robbed in Mahanoy City, according to Zubris.
Zubris said Alexander contacted him and borough Patrolman Rachael Lenar who met with the victim and her mother in the area of Birch Street.
Zubris said the girl, 15, told him that Bolish knocked on her door and asked her to help him with buying baby formula and diapers. The girl said she pulled $80 from her pants pocket and told Bolish that was all she had and that she could not help him, Zubris said. The girl reported that Bolish grabbed the $80 from her hand, shoved her away and jumped over the porch railing to flee the area.
Zubris said that after a brief search, Bolish was located at his grandmother’s house at 122 W. Birch St., taken into custody and informed he was being charged with the robbery.
Bolish told officers that he did not rob anyone but went to the girl’s house to buy heroin, Zubris said.
After Bolish was put in the back of a police cruiser, his grandmother approached Alexander and said she wanted her house searched due to the circumstances, Zubris said.
Zubris said that Lenar was speaking with Bolish’s girlfriend and noticed two hypodermic needles and two bundles of suspected heroin.
The man’s girlfriend told officers that Bolish told her to take the heroin and syringe that he hid in a baby stroller on the front porch and hide it inside the house where it was later located, Zubris said.
A short time later, West Penn Township Police Chief Brian Johnson arrived with his K-9 dog and searched the house locating four syringes, seven empty glassine baggies, a spoon with a cotton filter and a straw with white powder residue in an upstairs bedroom, Zubris said.
Bolish will now have to answer to the charges against him at a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker, Shenandoah.