Oops, U.S. Luge Team Sleds Fell Off Truck

Sleds used by the U.S. Luge Team fell off a truck and were picked up by someone, according to state police.

Pennsylvania state police at the Bethlehem barracks have recovered sleds lost by the U.S. Luge Team after the equipment fell off a truck and was picked up by someone on Feb. 15. The person who found the sleds contacted police after seeing press reports about the incident, state police said Friday. The luge team has been notified and will make arrangements to get their equipment back, police said. The team, based in Lake Placid, N.Y., was training on a Lehigh Valley ski slope last week and was on the way back to a hotel. The rear door of a truck carrying their sleds was not securely fastened and fell open. The sleds fell off the truck in the area of Airport Road and Old Carriage Road in East Allen Township, Northampton County, according to …

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Crime and Fire

Man Holds Wife Hostage Before Hotel Standoff, Police Say

Matthew Michael Lerch, 39, held his wife, Jenna Lerch, 30, against her will in their residence at 25. N. 3rd St., Emmaus, according to Emmaus Police.

An Emmaus man who was arrested this week after barricading himself in a hotel room for six hours apparently wound up at that hotel after holding his wife hostage in their Emmaus home the day before. Matthew Michael Lerch, 39, was involved in a domestic incident with his wife, Jena Lerch, 30, on Sunday night in what appears to be their former joint home in Emmaus, according to Sgt. Chuck Palmer of the Emmaus Police Department. The address is 25 N. 3rd Street. “He had been holding his wife against her will,” said Palmer, who refused to comment on when and how the police became involved in the situation. Ultimately an arrest warrant was issued for Lerch with a charge of "unlawful restraint," Palmer said. State troopers found Lerch at the …

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