A Palmerton man has been charged with stealing a sport utility vehicle that had a gun in it.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by patrolman Justus Altmiller of the Lehighton Borough Police Department in the case against Nicholas Bertalan:

On Nov. 10, the theft of a Mazda CX50 was reported that had occurred the day before in the 100 block of Maple Alley. A Canik TP9 was in the vehicle.

Video footage that showed a thin white man opening the door and starting the SUV.

At 2:27 p.m. Nov. 10, officer Joel Gulla and Altmiller were made aware that the stolen vehicle was in the area and began to search for it. They observed the vehicle moving west on Route 443 and attempted to stop it, but the driver wouldn’t pull over. Light and sirens were activated, but the vehicle continued to flee, headed east onto Ashtown Drive.

At the bridge before the intersection of Gypsy Hill Road and Bridge Street the traffic began to bottleneck, forcing Bertalan, 27, to slow down. Gulla used his vehicle’s pushbar to block the driver door and stop the vehicle.

Bertalan got out the passenger side of the vehicle and Gulla attempted to secure him while Altmiller removed the driver, a woman, from the driver side, having to force her out of the seat and over the center console to remove her.

Bertalan resisted Gulla’s attempt to put cuffs on him, biting Gulla on his right ring finger.

Bertalan told police the gun was in the back of the vehicle. Altmiller secured the firearm, which matched the make, model and description of the one stolen. A small plastic bag containing a white powdery substance was also found.

Both Bertalan and the woman were asked multiple times for their names and date of births but refused to provide them As police were preparing to transport them for LiveScan identification, a trooper who was assisting at the time was able to identify Bertalan and the woman, Victoria Smith, as he knew them through prior contact.

Both were then verified, and police were able to identify Bertalan as the man stealing the vehicle, based on the video evidence provided.

Bertalan admitted to stealing the SUV and said he was aware the gun was in the vehicle.

He said he told Smith that the vehicle was stolen, and that the white powder was methamphetamine.

Bertalan faces charges of aggravated assault, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, theft from a motor vehicle, intentional possession of controlled substance by person not registered, resist arrest/other law enforcement, and obstruction administrative law/other government functions.

Bertalan is currently incarcerated in the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $250,000 monetary bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Dec. 4 before District Judge Eric M. Schrantz of Jim Thorpe.

Smith was charged with receiving stolen property, flight to avoid apprehension and obstructing the law. She is free on $10,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 4