Mark Nichols, 28, allegedly took the cards from a car in Bath then visited a gas station, Wegmans, Palmer Park Mall and Thirst Quenchers, a beer distributor.
A Whitehall Township man is accused of breaking into a car May 26 in Bath, stealing credit cards and going on a shopping spree across Northampton County.Police say they identified Mark Nichols, 28, of the 5100 block of Main Street, Whitehall Township, through surveillance video in the stores where the stolen credit cards were used.
Ashely Strohl told police Nichols asked her to pick him up May 27 from a bar in Bath. They went to a gas station, to Wegmans, where they bought groceries, then to Palmer Park Mall, where Strohl sat in the car while Nichols went shopping. Later, they stopped at Thirst Quenchers in Bath, where he bought two cases of beer. The victim's stolen credit cards were used at all of the places Nichols visited that day, police said.
Surveillance video from Thirst Quenchers helped Moore Township police find Nichols 1:30 a.m. May 29 at a convenience store. When police tried to stop Nichols' car, a chase ensued. Nichols eventually stopped the car on Weaversville Road and ran away, leaving his female passenger, Strohl, behind, police said.
Nichols was arrested May 31 by Colonial Regional Police when a police officer saw him outside a bar on North Chestnut Street in Bath. Nichols left the bar in a car and police pulled it over a short time later. Nichols initially gave officers the name John Rushman, but they discovered his true identity, police said.
During a search of Nichols, police allegedly found steel knuckles and marijuana. He was charged with prohibited offensive weapons, possession of a small amount of marijuana, false reports to law enforcement, false identification to law enforcement, escape, fleeing or attempting to elude police and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail earlier this month.
Today, Nichols was arraigned on five counts each of access device fraud, theft from a motor vehicle, theft by unlawful taking and one count of receiving stolen property. District Judge Robert Hawke set his bail at $35,000 and he was returned to prison.