Officer Catches Robber Outside Bar, Police Say

Easton police say a city patrolman foiled a robbery soon after it happened outside a West Ward bar earlier this month.

Latoyra Lorenz Campbell, 32, is accused of robbing a man of $200 and ripping a gold necklace from his neck outside the Brickhouse Tavern on May 9.

According to court records, Officer Jamie Luise spotted Campbell soon after the robbery, and saw her moving her hand inside her jacket pocket.

He told her to cross the street and come talk to him – and to remove her hand from her pocket.

Campbell “did not comply with my verbal direction and continued to move her hand inside of her jacket in which she appeared to be concealing something,” Luise writes.

He again ordered her to remove her hand and come talk to him. This time she complied and was detained near his police cruiser.

But she never took her hand from her pocket – not until Luise removed it. He says in the complaint she was holding a $100 bill along with a “balled up” gold necklace with strands of hair in it.

Campbell insisted she found the items on the street. But police found the man who said she had robbed him, and he identified the necklace and the $200 as his.

Surveillance video, meanwhile, showed Campbell and the man leaving the Brickhouse, then showed her placing her hands in the man’s pockets and “removing the money,” the complaint says.

The video then showed her “forcefully ripping the gold necklace” from the man’s neck and running away.

Although the alleged incident occurred May 9 – a Thursday – Campbell was not arraigned until Saturday night (May 18) by on-duty District Judge Diane Marakovits of Northampton.

Campbell, of 506 Northampton St., Apt. 3R, was charged with robbery and theft by unlawful taking or disposition. She was committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $7,500 bail.