‘Professional bank robber' arrived in Uber, cops say
KINGSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Police say a man claiming to be a professional bank robber took an Uber to commit a bank robbery in Kingston.
The Kingston Police Department says on January 24 around 2:30 p.m., officers were called to M&T Bank on Wyoming Avenue for a reported robbery.
Police said a Ford Fusion entered the bank parking lot and a man exited the car, placed a ski mask over his face, then approached a teller, presenting her with a demand note.
'I'm here to rob you' suspect says in store robbery
According to the affidavit, on the note, the suspect wrote 'This is a demand note for 20's, 50's, and 100's!!! I am a professional bank robber!!! I have a handgun and am armed with bullets!!!' The teller gave the suspect an assorted amount of cash and he fled the bank.
Investigators stated they located the vehicle the suspect exited out of and learned the operator was an Uber driver. The Uber driver gave officers video footage of the ride and they were able to identify the suspect as Kenneth Besecker, 30, Hunlock Creek, according to court documents.
Around 4:40 p.m. officers found Besecker walking on Route 29 in Lehman Township where he was placed under arrest. Besecker informed police that he took an Uber to the bank then after the robbery walked over to Dollar General and took another Uber home.
Police say Besecker returned $340 from the robbery at M&T Bank.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
NYC taxi lender fined $4M over 'fake news' plants
A New York financier and his publicly traded firm that bankrolled loans to taxi drivers were fined $4 million for planting fake news articles online to boost the company's stock price. Medallion Financial Corp. — which got hit a decade ago as ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft began to tank the value of taxi medallions — will have to pay $3 million as part of a settlement after a ruling by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the US Southern District of New York. Medallion president Andrew Murstein — who made headlines when he hired Nicki Minaj to perform at his son's bar mitzvah in 2015 — must fork out over $1 million in a ruling on a case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a May 29 securities filing. 5 Medallion president Andrew Murstein, seen here at a Yankees game, has been hit with a $1 million fine. Anthony J. Causi The SEC complaint, brought in December 2021 under the agency's President Biden-appointed chair Gary Gensler, contained 'more than sufficient allegations to support the claim that Murstein and Medallion Financial misled investors by withholding information material to Medallion Bank's fair value,' Kaplan wrote in a separate filing. The Post previously reported on Murstein's brazen scheme to secretly pay for 'fake news' stories as the rise of Uber and Lyft caused investors to sour on taxi-related stocks, leaving Medallion's share price floundering. Judge Kaplan ruled that securities laws were broken when the top executive hired media strategists to place at least 50 stories from 2014 to 2017 on sites such as HuffPost and Crain's New York Business. The taxi medallion lender also failed to disclose that the authors of the bogus blogs were being paid, and that many of the stories had been personally tweaked and edited by Murstein. Instead, the posts were written in a way to make it look as if they had been penned by actual investors who were bullish on Medallion stock. 5 Prices for a prized medallion soared to as much as $1 million under Mayor Michael Bloomberg before crashing when ride-sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft cornered the market. NY Post 'Neither Medallion Financial nor Murstein ever disclosed to investors Murstein's conduct in recruiting, paying, and instructing his touters,' Kaplan wrote.. 'Murstein acted knowingly or recklessly in hiring and keeping touters on the Medallion Financial payroll.' The judge found he had gone 'opinion-shopping' when one valuation firm refused to ignore his deteriorating medallion portfolio and accept his inflated view of the company's actual worth of $193 million. It resulted in the value of Medallion's banking unit jumping to $280 million at the end of 2016, from $166 million just two quarters earlier, even as the price of medallions slumped. California PR agent Lawrence Meyers, one of the main communications specialists hired by Murstein, must also pay a $100,000 fine, according to SEC filings. As part of the settlement deal, all defendants neither admit nor deny the allegations, the ruling said. 'Our agreement with the SEC puts this nearly decade-old matter behind us and enables us to apply our full focus to continuing to grow the company,' a Medallion spokesperson told The Post on Wednesday. 'It removes the distraction, cost, and uncertainty of continued litigation and is in the best interest of the Company and our shareholders.' 5 Murstein splashed the cash on getting Nicki Minaj to perform at his son's bar mitzvah in 2015. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP News of the settlement was first reported by American Banker on Tuesday. The brash boss and his father, Leon, raked in more than $42 million from 2002 to 2014, according to the New York Times. Aside from spending lavishly on the 'WAP' singer, Medallion Financial bought up professional lacrosse and NASCAR teams, the paper reported. 'One wonders if the SEC is going easy on them a bit, due to the change in administration or lack of staff,' a source close to the situation told The Post. 'That should give investors pause for thought if boards and executives can get away with such behavior.' President Trump-nominated SEC Chair Paul Atkins replaced Gensler. Rebecca Fike, a partner at Vinson & Elkins and a former SEC enforcement attorney, added that it shows 'a desire to wrap up actions that were initiated under the previous administration.' 'I expect the Atkins SEC to favor quicker resolutions and accept much lower civil penalties, particularly where the staff cannot show a corporate benefit from the fraudulent acts,' she told The Post. 5 Medallion made a mint offering loans to low-income drivers who wanted to get a permit to drive NYC's iconic yellow cabs. Christopher Sadowski The company's stock closed Wednesday at $9.50. By law, there are only 13,587 taxi medallions in New York City, and each yellow cab must have a medallion linked to it. Prices for a prized medallion soared to as much as $1 million under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But they plunged under tougher competition from the ride-sharing apps, leaving the drivers drowning in debt and piling the pressure on Medallion's profit margins. Medallion went public in 1996. The company had been originally set up by Murstein's taxi-driving father, a Polish immigrant, who started trading some of the cab medallions. 5 The case against Medallion was first brought in December 2021 under Gary Gensler, who was Joe Biden's pick to be chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. REUTERS A driver would put up roughly a third of the purchase price when buying the permit, with Medallion financing the rest with interest over a fixed period of time. After years of protests from drivers amid the rise of digital rivals, former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a deal in November 2021 to cap medallion loans at $170,000 and interest repayments at 5%. Medallion has since tried to shift to more traditional consumer and commercial banking over the past few years.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation
SEATTLE (AP) — A transgender woman who says she was raped by Mexican cartel members told an immigration judge in Oregon that she wanted her asylum case to continue. A Venezuelan man bluntly told a judge in Seattle, 'They will kill me if I go back to my country.' A man and his cousin said they feared for their lives should they return to Haiti. Many asylum-seekers, like these three, dutifully appeared at routine hearings before being arrested outside courtrooms last week, a practice that has jolted immigration courts across the country as the White House works toward its promise of mass deportations. The large-scale arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases, typically taking years to reach a decision. Now they must consider whether to show up and possibly be detained and deported, or skip their hearings and forfeit their bids to remain in the country. The playbook has become familiar. A judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings. Moments later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — often masked — arrest the person in the hallway and put them on a fast track to deportation, called 'expedited removal.' President Donald Trump sharply expanded fast-track authority in January, allowing immigration officers to deport someone without first seeing a judge. Although fast-track deportations can be put on hold by filing a new asylum claim, people can be swiftly removed if they fail an initial screening. 'People are more likely to give up' The transgender woman from Mexico, identified in court filings as O-J-M, was arrested outside the courtroom after a judge granted the government's request to dismiss her case. She said in a court filing that she crossed the border in September 2023, two years after being raped by cartel members because of her gender, and had regularly checked in at ICE offices, as instructed. O-J-M was taken to an ICE facility in Portland before being sent to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, where attorney Kathleen Pritchard said in court filings she was unable to schedule a nonrecorded legal phone call for days. 'It's an attempt to disappear people,' said Jordan Cunnings, one of O-J-M's attorneys and legal director of the nonprofit Innovation Law Lab. 'If you're subject to this horrible disappearance suddenly, and you can't get in touch with your attorney, you're away from friends and family, you're away from your community support network, that's when people are more likely to give up and not be able to fight their cases.' O-J-M was eligible for fast-track deportation because she was in the United States less than two years, but that was put on hold when she expressed fear of returning to Mexico, according to a declaration filed with the court by ICE deportation officer Chatham McCutcheon. She will remain in the United States at least until her initial screening interview for asylum, which had not been scheduled at the time of the court filing, the officer said. The administration is 'manipulating the court system in bad faith to then initiate expedited removal proceedings,' said Isa Peña, director of strategy for the Innovation Law Lab. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to questions about the number of cases dismissed since last month and the number of arrests made at or near immigration courts. It said in a statement that most people who entered the U.S. illegally within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. 'If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation,' the statement said. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the immigration courts, declined to comment. ICE has used increasingly aggressive tactics in Los Angeles and elsewhere while under orders from Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, to increase immigration arrests to at least 3,000 a day. Tension in the hallways In Seattle, a Venezuelan man sat in a small waiting room, surrounded by others clutching yellow folders while a half-dozen masked, plainclothes ICE officers lined the halls. Protesters held signs in Spanish, including one that read, "Keep faith that love and justice will prevail in your favor,' and peppered officers with insults, saying their actions were immoral. Judge Kenneth Sogabe granted the government's request to dismiss the Venezuelan man's deportation case, despite his objections that he and his wife faced death threats back home. 'I want my case to be analyzed and heard. I do not agree with my case being dismissed,' the man said through an interpreter. Sogabe, a former Defense Department attorney who became a judge in 2021, told the man that Department of Homeland Security lawyers could dismiss a case it brought but he could appeal within 30 days. He could also file an asylum claim. 'When I leave, no immigration officer can detain me, arrest me?' the man asked. 'I can't answer that,' the judge replied. 'I do not have any connection with the enforcement arm.' The man stepped out of the courtroom and was swarmed by officers who handcuffed him and walked him to the elevators. Later that morning, a Haitian man was led away in tears after his case was dismissed. For reasons that were not immediately clear, the government didn't drop its case against the man's cousin, who was released with a new hearing date. The pair entered the United States together last year using an online, Biden-era appointment system called CBP One. Trump ended CBP One and revoked two-year temporary status for those who used it. Alex Baron, a lawyer for the pair, said the arrests were a scare tactic. 'Word gets out and other people just don't come or don't apply for asylum or don't show up to court. And when they don't show up, they get automatic removal orders,' he said. At least seven others were arrested outside the Seattle courtrooms that day. In most cases, they didn't speak English or have money to hire a lawyer. A judge resists In Atlanta, Judge Andrew Hewitt challenged an ICE lawyer who moved to dismiss removal cases against several South and Central Americans last week and put them on a fast track to deportation. Hewitt, a former ICE attorney who was appointed a judge in 2023, was visibly frustrated. He conceded to a Honduran man that the government's reasoning 'seems a bit circular and potentially inefficient' because he could show he's afraid to return to his country and be put right back in immigration court proceedings. The Honduran man hadn't filed an asylum claim and Hewitt eventually signed what he called a 'grossly untimely motion" to dismiss the case, advising the man of his right to appeal. He denied a government request to dismiss the case of a Venezuelan woman who had filed an asylum application and scheduled a hearing for January 2027. Hewitt refused to dismiss the case of a young Ecuadorian woman, telling the government lawyer to put the request in writing for consideration at an August hearing. Immigration officers waited near the building's exit with handcuffs and took her into custody. ___ Rush reported from Portland, Oregon, and Brumback from Atlanta.
San Francisco Chronicle
12 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation
SEATTLE (AP) — A transgender woman who says she was raped by Mexican cartel members told an immigration judge in Oregon that she wanted her asylum case to continue. A Venezuelan man bluntly told a judge in Seattle, 'They will kill me if I go back to my country.' A man and his cousin said they feared for their lives should they return to Haiti. Many asylum-seekers, like these three, dutifully appeared at routine hearings before being arrested outside courtrooms last week, a practice that has jolted immigration courts across the country as the White House works toward its promise of mass deportations. The large-scale arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases, typically taking years to reach a decision. Now they must consider whether to show up and possibly be detained and deported, or skip their hearings and forfeit their bids to remain in the country. The playbook has become familiar. A judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings. Moments later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — often masked — arrest the person in the hallway and put them on a fast track to deportation, called 'expedited removal.' President Donald Trump sharply expanded fast-track authority in January, allowing immigration officers to deport someone without first seeing a judge. Although fast-track deportations can be put on hold by filing a new asylum claim, people can be swiftly removed if they fail an initial screening. 'People are more likely to give up' The transgender woman from Mexico, identified in court filings as O-J-M, was arrested outside the courtroom after a judge granted the government's request to dismiss her case. She said in a court filing that she crossed the border in September 2023, two years after being raped by cartel members because of her gender, and had regularly checked in at ICE offices, as instructed. O-J-M was taken to an ICE facility in Portland before being sent to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, where attorney Kathleen Pritchard said in court filings she was unable to schedule a nonrecorded legal phone call for days. 'It's an attempt to disappear people,' said Jordan Cunnings, one of O-J-M's attorneys and legal director of the nonprofit Innovation Law Lab. 'If you're subject to this horrible disappearance suddenly, and you can't get in touch with your attorney, you're away from friends and family, you're away from your community support network, that's when people are more likely to give up and not be able to fight their cases.' O-J-M was eligible for fast-track deportation because she was in the United States less than two years, but that was put on hold when she expressed fear of returning to Mexico, according to a declaration filed with the court by ICE deportation officer Chatham McCutcheon. She will remain in the United States at least until her initial screening interview for asylum, which had not been scheduled at the time of the court filing, the officer said. The administration is 'manipulating the court system in bad faith to then initiate expedited removal proceedings,' said Isa Peña, director of strategy for the Innovation Law Lab. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to questions about the number of cases dismissed since last month and the number of arrests made at or near immigration courts. It said in a statement that most people who entered the U.S. illegally within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. 'If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation,' the statement said. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the immigration courts, declined to comment. ICE has used increasingly aggressive tactics in Los Angeles and elsewhere while under orders from Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, to increase immigration arrests to at least 3,000 a day. Tension in the hallways In Seattle, a Venezuelan man sat in a small waiting room, surrounded by others clutching yellow folders while a half-dozen masked, plainclothes ICE officers lined the halls. Protesters held signs in Spanish, including one that read, "Keep faith that love and justice will prevail in your favor,' and peppered officers with insults, saying their actions were immoral. Judge Kenneth Sogabe granted the government's request to dismiss the Venezuelan man's deportation case, despite his objections that he and his wife faced death threats back home. 'I want my case to be analyzed and heard. I do not agree with my case being dismissed,' the man said through an interpreter. Sogabe, a former Defense Department attorney who became a judge in 2021, told the man that Department of Homeland Security lawyers could dismiss a case it brought but he could appeal within 30 days. He could also file an asylum claim. 'When I leave, no immigration officer can detain me, arrest me?' the man asked. 'I can't answer that,' the judge replied. 'I do not have any connection with the enforcement arm.' The man stepped out of the courtroom and was swarmed by officers who handcuffed him and walked him to the elevators. Later that morning, a Haitian man was led away in tears after his case was dismissed. For reasons that were not immediately clear, the government didn't drop its case against the man's cousin, who was released with a new hearing date. The pair entered the United States together last year using an online, Biden-era appointment system called CBP One. Trump ended CBP One and revoked two-year temporary status for those who used it. Alex Baron, a lawyer for the pair, said the arrests were a scare tactic. 'Word gets out and other people just don't come or don't apply for asylum or don't show up to court. And when they don't show up, they get automatic removal orders,' he said. At least seven others were arrested outside the Seattle courtrooms that day. In most cases, they didn't speak English or have money to hire a lawyer. A judge resists In Atlanta, Judge Andrew Hewitt challenged an ICE lawyer who moved to dismiss removal cases against several South and Central Americans last week and put them on a fast track to deportation. Hewitt, a former ICE attorney who was appointed a judge in 2023, was visibly frustrated. He conceded to a Honduran man that the government's reasoning 'seems a bit circular and potentially inefficient' because he could show he's afraid to return to his country and be put right back in immigration court proceedings. The Honduran man hadn't filed an asylum claim and Hewitt eventually signed what he called a 'grossly untimely motion" to dismiss the case, advising the man of his right to appeal. He denied a government request to dismiss the case of a Venezuelan woman who had filed an asylum application and scheduled a hearing for January 2027. Hewitt refused to dismiss the case of a young Ecuadorian woman, telling the government lawyer to put the request in writing for consideration at an August hearing. Immigration officers waited near the building's exit with handcuffs and took her into custody.
