Scranton woman charged with threatening to 'shoot up' Peckville church
May 25—A North Scranton woman upset that her boyfriend met with another woman sent Instagram messages to the Peckville church the woman attended threatening to shoot up the congregation, Blakely police said.
Leslie Isabel Pazmino Orquera, 26, was taken into custody on terroristic threats and other charges when Blakely police, assisted by state police and the Scranton Police Street Crimes Unit, executed a search warrant Thursday on her 1036 Diamond Ave. home.
She is accused of sending a series of messages to Peckville Assembly of God via Instagram last month threatening violence against the church, police said.
Her boyfriend, Erick Rafael Santiago, was arrested after police found a 9 mm handgun with a loaded magazine at their home. Santiago, who told officers he is barred from having a firearm because of a prior felony conviction, admitted buying the gun illegally on the street, police said.
According to a criminal complaint filed by Senior Patrolman Peter Petrucci, police opened an investigation after Peckville Assembly of God Pastor Tyler Drost reported the church received several threatening messages April 19 from an Instagram account with the name "Chris Hunter."
The sender named a woman who regularly attends services there and said if she goes to the church, "I'm shooting up your assembly," police said. Another message accused the woman of being a sinner and getting "in between marriages" while another said, "Don't cry" when it happens.
The messages also included screenshots of the woman's Instagram page, the complaint said.
Out of an abundance of caution, borough officers started providing extra security at church services, where attendance fell off as word of the threats spread among the congregation, police said.
The woman referenced in the Instagram messages told Petrucci in an interview she met a man named Erick Voelker on the internet about a year ago and they met once in person but never spoke after that, the complaint said.
A few weeks later, the woman told the officer, she received threatening messages on Facebook from someone angry about her relationship with Voelker until she blocked the account.
When the messages resumed a few weeks ago — this time from Facebook accounts with names "Leslie Isabel" and "Les Pazmino" — she reported them to police, the complaint said.
In the meantime, investigators traced the "Chris Hunter" Instagram account to an internet protocol address associated with Pazmino Orquera's Comcast account at 1036 Diamond Ave., police said. On Wednesday, they obtained a search warrant for the address.
In an interview with investigators at her home Thursday, Pazmino Orquera initially denied making threats against the church but later admitted creating the "Chris Hunter" account and sending the messages, the complaint said.
The Lackawanna County Office of Youth and Family Services took custody of two children who were at the home at the time of the search, police said.
In addition to terroristic threats, Pazmino Orquera was charged with endangering the welfare of children, harassment and disorderly conduct. Santiago faces charges of prohibited possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both were arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Paul Ware and held in Lackawanna County Prison on $50,000 bail each.
Their preliminary hearings are scheduled at 10:30 a.m. June 5.
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dsingleton@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9132.
