A man who crashed a stolen car in Jim Thorpe nearly a year ago will spend between 16 months and 4 years in prison after being sentenced Thursday in Carbon County Court.

Mark Hughes, 35, of Lancaster, pleaded guilty in October in front of Carbon County Common Pleas Judge Steven Serfass, who also handed down Hughes’ sentence.

Hughes admitted to two counts of criminal trespass-breaking into a structure, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and accident involving damage to attended vehicle or property.

Background

Jim Thorpe police, according to an affidavit of probable cause, were dispatched for a motor vehicle crash on Lentz Trail around 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2024.

There, Sgt. Michelangelo Bokeko found a black Ford Escape with a Georgia license plate that had been entered by Pennsylvania State Police at Frackville as having been stolen in Minersville Borough.

The same vehicle had been involved in a hit-and-run crash in Beaver Meadows at 2:11 a.m. Wednesday.

A resident on Chestnut Hill Road in Jim Thorpe called to say a man, determined to be Hughes, tried to enter two homes within walking distance of the crash.

While investigating the attempted burglaries as well as the stolen vehicle, police were dispatched back to Chestnut Hill Road, where it was reported Hughes was there with a handgun.

While police were on scene at Chestnut Hill Road, residents provided pictures of Hughes, who was wearing a dark-colored zip-up jacket, gray sweatpants, and white sneakers.

Described as having dark hair, a beard, glasses and a tattoo on his neck, Hughes walked down the dead end of Chestnut Hill Road and into the woods.

Jim Thorpe Detective Lee Marzen arrived and went into the woods looking for the man, following footprints in the snow to a section of West Broadway.

Multiple police units were dispatched, including a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter. In addition to Jim Thorpe, Nesquehoning and Summit Hill police departments, state police, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office and the Carbon County District Attorney’s office assisted in the investigation. The search area consisted of about 3 square miles.

Police received various reports of sightings of Hughes throughout the Broadway and downtown Jim Thorpe area, and received information that he was spotted in the area of Highland Beverage.

A short time later, police were advised that Hughes was in Lehighton at the Dollar General on Route 209. He was taken into custody, and he had a small package of white crystal substance presumed to be methamphetamine.

Hughes admitted to stealing his mother’s car, which ran out of gas in Minersville. Hughes said he attempted to go into residences in Minersville, and eventually located keys inside of a Ford Escape, the vehicle he drove to Jim Thorpe and crashed.

Probation

Hughes was also sentenced Thursday on an accident involving damage to attended vehicle or property charge related to the hit-and-run in Beaver Meadows.

For that third-degree misdemeanor, Hughes received one year of probation.