An 18-year-old Schuylkill Haven man is jailed on $125,000 bail after police say he threatened a 15-year-old girl and her grandfather before sending the girl a photograph of a handgun through Snapchat.
Sincere Jaleke Williams is facing three felony charges and five misdemeanor charges following the September 3 incident.
According to an affidavit filed by Schuylkill Haven Police, officers were dispatched around 9:45 p.m. to the area of the Garfield Avenue Playground for a report that Williams was outside the teenager’s residence threatening her with a gun.
The teenager told dispatchers that Williams recorded a video of the outside of her home and sent it to her through Snapchat with the message, “you have 2 minutes left.” Police allege he immediately followed the video with a photograph of a handgun.
An officer who contacted Williams at the playground reportedly viewed the video on Williams’ phone.
The teenager later told police that Williams was angry because she was friends with his former girlfriend. She alleged that Williams demanded she come outside, called her twice and threatened both her and her grandfather.
As the officer responded to the call, he reported seeing two juveniles carrying backpacks and running across Center Avenue from behind Skook Auto toward Borough Hall. The officer stopped the two and searched their backpacks while looking for the firearm described by the teenager.
Inside a red backpack bearing the word “COOKIES,” police reported finding marijuana-related items, a magazine loaded with ammunition and a black-and-silver Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun.
One of the juveniles allegedly told police that Williams gave him the backpack and instructed him to run as an officer arrived. The juvenile said Williams told him there was marijuana inside the bag but did not tell him about the firearm.
The juvenile also told investigators that Williams had carried the backpack after leaving his residence earlier that evening and remained in possession of it until handing it over as police arrived.
Police said the handgun’s serial number appeared to have been scratched away, although officers were later able to identify it. The affidavit states that the firearm was registered to a Pottsville resident and was not listed as stolen in the National Crime Information Center database when police checked it.
Investigators were also shown social media images that allegedly depicted Williams possessing the same black-and-silver handgun before the September 3 incident. One Snapchat recording from August allegedly showed Williams holding the firearm while riding in a vehicle. Another photograph reportedly showed him holding and aiming the gun inside a bedroom.
Williams is charged with felony counts of possession of a firearm with an altered manufacturer’s number, receiving stolen property and carrying a firearm without a license.
He is also charged with terroristic threats, stalking, corruption of minors, simple assault and cyber harassment of a child.
Williams was arraigned on September 4 and committed to Schuylkill County Prison after being unable to post $125,000 monetary bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 29 before Magisterial District Judge Casimir T. Kosciolek.