An Allentown man faces charges after police said he tried to enter a padlocked apartment above a fire-damaged garage in April in Wind Gap, according to court records.
A tenant of the property in the first block of West Second Street told police the 59-year-old was told during the April 30 incident that he was not to enter the property but that he did anyway, Slate Belt Regional police wrote in the records. A neighbor reported to police having seen the man trying to enter the structure by prying open the door, while wearing a yellow firefighter’s helmet, police said.
The man told the neighbor he was a “‘fire inspector’ as to ensure the neighbor he was in an official capacity to be on the property,” police wrote.
The police department on Tuesday withdrew a charge of defiant trespass in the case and refiled the same charge, along with a charge of impersonating a public servant. Both are misdemeanors.
A call for comment to an attorney for the suspect was not immediately returned.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
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