Two Kunkletown residents have been charged with forgery after they admitted taking a credit card inside a store and used it to pay for tools.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by police officer Tyler Meek of the Mahoning Township Police Department:

At 1:45 p.m. Jan. 21, township Police Chief Audie Mertz and Meek were watching a truck that was involved in an attempted theft at Walmart about 10 minutes earlier.

The truck had an expired inspection date of September 2018, and police saw four people go to and from the vehicle.

The truck later left the lot and Mertz attempted to stop it, but it accelerated and he lost sight of it as it traveled onto Gypsy Hill Road.

Meek found the truck on North 12th Street and was able to conduct a traffic stop on Coal Street.

During the investigation, the driver was detained for suspicion of DUI. Police did not name the driver.

Due to the extremely cold temperatures, the passengers, Matthew Haydt, 31, of Kunkletown, and Jasmine Conner, 37, of Kunkletown, were offered transportation from the scene.

Police searched their backpacks and found each contained 20v DeWalt cordless power tools.

Conner commented that she did not know where hers came from or who had obtained it, as she was only carrying it from the truck.

Haydt said he was only carrying his from the truck so it wouldn’t get stolen. No one was able to provide a receipt.

Mertz contacted Lowe’s and discovered the tools had just been purchased on a credit card under a different name.

A store security image showed the items had been purchased by Haydt and Conner, and both were transported to the police station.

Haydt initially said he had a gift card given to him to buy the items, and later admitted purchasing the items without permission.

He said he found a credit card on a shelf inside the store and used it to make two purchases there.

Conner admitted throwing the credit card out the truck window on Ashtown Drive.

The receipt from Lowe’s for the tools was found soaked inside of a soda bottle on the back seat floor of the truck.

A medical insurance card was found inside the backpack carried by Haydt that had been purchased at Lowe’s.

Haydt said that the card belonged to an ex-girlfriend.

Mertz spoke with the cardholder, who reported to police her car had been broken into and items had been stolen, including the medical card.

Haydt faces charges of forgery, criminal conspiracy, access device fraud, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, and receiving stolen property.

Conner faces charges of forgery, criminal conspiracy, access device fraud, and theft by unlawful taking or disposition.

Both were taken to the Carbon County Correctional Facility, with Haydt being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, and Conner in lieu of $3,000 bail.

Both are scheduled to have preliminary hearings at 1:30 p.m. March 13 before District Judge Casimir T. Kosciolek of Lansford.