UPDATE Shamokin woman steals police car, broadcasts on county radio Wednesday morning
Dec. 28—SHAMOKIN — A homeless Shamokin woman faces felony theft charges after police said she stole a city police cruiser from the station's parking lot Wednesday morning.
Stormie Birster, 31, appeared before Shamokin District Judge John Gembic Wednesday morning and was jailed on $50,000 cash.
Police said the woman removed the cruiser and began to speak into the police radio which was broadcast early Wednesday morning across the county.
Police say at around 2:20 a.m. two officers were on patrol when they heard a female voice saying "Patrol one, can you hear me?" according to a criminal complaint.
County 911 officials responded, "yes," police said.
The female said, "This is Stormie Birster and you need to check on my mother," police said.
County officials then told Shamokin police that the radio transmission was coming from a police vehicle and they needed to check on the cruiser, according to police.
Officers returned to the station and discovered an unmarked police vehicle was missing, police said.
Officers then began to search for the vehicle with other county departments, police said.
A Coal Township Police officer then attempted to make contact with the woman and asked if she could hear him, police said.
The woman responded that she could and she was in a police vehicle, according to court documents.
The woman told police someone needed to check on her mother and that someone had been killed by a dog, police said.
The woman said, "Chief (Ray) Siko is dead and someone needs to check on him," according to court documents.
Birster gave an address to officers but it was not a correct address, officers said.
All of the conversations on the county radio were being broadcast live throughout the 911 coverage area.
A police officer then radioed in and said that a police vehicle had pulled in behind him near the Cameron Bridge and when the officer made contact the woman allegedly told the officer the government was controlling her, according to court documents.
Birster was taken into custody without incident and taken to the Shamokin Police Department, officers said. She faces the felony theft and a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Birster will appear before Gembic for a preliminary hearing at a later date.
Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz said he was made aware of the situation and plans on prosecuting the case to the fullest.
"Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty," he said. "However, this type of behavior will absolutely 100 percent not be tolerated and I plan on prosecuting this case to the fullest. The average law-abiding citizen driving would pull over for a police vehicle, and this could have caused an accident or worse."
