A Lehighton man has been charged with threatening two men who attempted to sell him a guitar.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by officer Jared Green of the Franklin Township Police Department in the case against Stephen Howard:

At around 8:54 p.m. Dec. 7, Green was dispatched to meet with two men who were threatened at Mooney’s Motel while attempting to sell items.

Green met with a man at the Sunoco Gas Station in Lehighton, who said he and his friend “Halakhi,” who Green knows from previous encounters, went to Mooney’s Motel to sell a man a guitar and amp for $50.

The two men specifically went to Room 4 at Mooney’s Motel, occupied by Howard, 54, who has rented rooms 4 and 5 at Mooney’s Motel for several months.

While at the hotel to complete the transaction, Howard ordered the two men to lay face down in the parking lot of Mooney’s Motel.

During interviews with the two men, both recalled Howard having an object in his hand, and unsure of it being a weapon, both complied by lying face down in the parking lot.

Howard then proceeded to make his way toward one of the men, reached into his back pocket, secured the man’s bifold wallet, took cash from it and threw the wallet back down toward the man.

Howard then instructed the two men to leave as fast as they could before something bad happens.

The two men grabbed their bicycles and left the area as quickly as they could, afraid of what could happen next.

Once at a safe distance, the men called 9-1-1.

The men described two BMW vehicles parked outside of Room 4 and described Howard as an older white man.

Green attempted to make contact at Mooney’s Motel at around 10:45 p.m. that night, in which he observed two BMW sedans parked outside the hotel room.

Through previous police encounters, Green was able to identify the vehicles belonging to Howard.

Howard didn’t answer the door that night to speak with police, so Green attempted to speak with him several more times regarding the matter, but Howard would avoid him whenever possible.

At 1:59 p.m. Dec. 29, Howard was outside of Room 5 when Green drove through the parking lot and asked him how he was, to which Howard hurried into his room and locked the door as fast as he could. Green left his vehicle, knocked on the door and asked if he could speak with Howard, but Howard did not answer and avoided Green.

On Jan. 12, Howard was taken into custody for a separate incident and brought to the Franklin Township Police Department, where he would not sign any paperwork and wanted his lawyer.

Howard was concerned about nothing but his guitar that is currently at the Franklin Township Police Department, the same guitar that was sold to him by the two men.

Howard faces charges of robbery, terroristic threats and theft by unlawful taking.

He is incarcerated in the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 monetary bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Feb. 12 before District Judge William J. Kissner of Palmerton.