Latest news with #Hergert
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bail set for convicted serial stalker
May 27—WILKES-BARRE — With multiple arrests in multiple states for stalking women, and having been convicted of stalking a woman inside a church and her place of employment in Wilkes-Barre, Jeffrey John Hergert needs $300,000 bail to be released from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. Hergert, 50, appeared via video for a bail hearing before Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas on Tuesday. Citing a concern for numerous closed and active stalking cases in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, South Carolina and Washington to name a few, Lupas set bail for Hergert at $300,000. Hergert was denied bail since his arrest in January by detectives from the Luzerne County district attorney's office on allegations he stalked five women inside and outside Planet Fitness in the Gateway Shopping Center, Edwardsville, and at Crunch Fitness near the Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre Township in 2024, according to court records. Court records say Hergert initiated conversations with the women, waited for the women outside the fitness facilities and approached their vehicles as they parked or drove away. Conversations Hergert allegedly initiated usually involved the women's relationships. During the bail hearing Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Adam W. Bompadre opposed bail citing the numerous closed and active criminal cases of stalking women in multiple states. "We would ask for no bail or bail be set at $250,000," Bompadre aid. "If he was given bail, we're going to be looking for him." Before setting bail, Lupas acknowledged Hergert has a right to bail. If Hergert does post $300,000 bail, Lupas ordered him to be supervised with electronic monitoring. Hergert went on a tirade, calling everyone a "joke," and claimed he lost 50 pounds since his arrest in January. He also noted he is a U.S. Navy veteran and traveled to multiple states for employment. Hergert's trial on two counts of stalking and three counts of harassment is scheduled in June. Court records say Herbert, in 2012, who resided on Madison Street, Wilkes-Barre, at the time, was charged with stalking a woman when she attended Mass at a South Wilkes-Barre church and at her place of employment on Carey Avenue, Wilkes-Barre. Herbert was sentenced in October 2012 to one to three years in state prison on stalking and harassment charges.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Amid red flag warning, small fires spark in Southern New Mexico
Firefighters have responded to three small wildland fires — known as the Outlaw, Gallinas and Carrizo fires — in Southern New Mexico, between Silver City and Truth or Consequences. Sparked by lightning strikes early Saturday morning, the Carrizo Fire had burned about 20 acres of grass, brush and woodland on private land, while the Outlaw and Gallinas fires each measured 3 acres, according an update published Saturday via state and federal agencies' fire reporting system. The fires come amid very dry conditions throughout the state. The National Weather Service on Sunday issued a red flag warning — an alert indicating dry conditions and high winds could combine to create extreme burning conditions — throughout much of central and Southern New Mexico, including parts of Santa Fe County. The agency also issued a wind advisory covering much of the northeastern corner of the state, predicting sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts of up to 50 mph. "On a day like this, it's so easy for a fire like that to just get started, especially in those drier portions of the state," said Randall Hergert, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Albuquerque office. While it may not be news that New Mexico is dry, much of the state is especially dry right now, with relative humidity levels falling below 15% in many places, Hergert explained. That, combined with strong southwesterly winds, are "prime conditions" to spark new fires or spread existing fires, he said. As of Saturday, several engines, aerial resources and firefighters — including the Silver City Hotshots and El Carrizo Hotshots — were involved in fighting the Outlaw, Gallinas and Carrizo fires, according to the interagency alert. By Sunday afternoon, Hergert said the fires appeared to be responding well to those efforts, despite dry and windy conditions. "So far, it seems like they're actually behaving, which is a good sign," he said. In addition to increasing the potential spread of fires, Hergert added the high winds could result in dangerous driving conditions — particularly on the stretch of Interstate 25 from Las Vegas, N.M., to Raton — Sunday afternoon and evening for higher-profile vehicles like semitrucks and trailers. The National Weather Service's Albuquerque office is also keeping a close eye on the Greer Fire, which since May 13 has burned more than 18,000 acres just across the border in Arizona. "Even though it's in Arizona, we've seen some of its smoke come all the way over here to Albuquerque," Hergert said.
