Woman Charged with Littering in 'Suspicious Purse' Case

A former Easton woman has been charged with littering after she allegedly tossed a purse out a car window Tuesday—an action that caused the street to be shut down for nearly two hours while fire personnel and a bomb squad investigated whether the purse posed a threat to public safety.

Yolanda Santana of New York City said she threw the purse out the window because she had purchased a new one, police said.

Since she did not intend to cause harm, police said, Santana was charged with littering rather than more serious offenses. Police said they will try to get restitution for costs incurred when the bomb squad and fire and police personnel responded to investigate the "suspicious" purse.

The purse was tossed by a passenger out the car window at 11:43 a.m. near Seventh and Northampton streets, police had said. Because it was "suspicious," police shut down several roads while they investigated. The Bethlehem Bomb Squad was called and the purse was found to not pose a risk.

Police said they then checked surveillance video and were able to obtain a description of the vehicle from which the purse was tossed. Police tracked down the vehicle and the driver on Wednesday and identified Santana as having been a passenger, they said. Police talked to Santana at the police station.