A man on parole for running over a Lower Saucon Township Police officer’s foot as he fled South Mountain Park in the summer of 2017 is now charged with robbing the First Northern Bank & Trust branch at 1449 Nor-Bath Boulevard, Allen Township, last week.
A 19-year-old Philadelphia man who has been charged with robbing a bank in Allen Township, Northampton County, Jan. 26, was on parole and had served a month in county prison for driving over a Lower Saucon Township police officer’s foot as he fled from South Mountain Park late one night last summer.
Dylan James Karba in a photo posted to his public Facebook page
Dylan James Karba is now charged with Felony 2 robbery, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property in connection with the Jan. 26 robbery of the First Northern Bank & Trust branch at 1449 Nor-Bath Boulevard, according to a news release from Pennsylvania State Police at Bethlehem.
Karba was arraigned before District Judge Richard H. Yetter III Tuesday morning and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $350,000 bail, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Feb. 9, according to court records.
He is also charged with felony burglary, theft and receiving stolen property in a separate Bethlehem Township case from last week, according to records.
Karba was arraigned before Yetter on those charges and committed to the county jail in lieu of $125,000 bail on Monday, the records indicate.
According to a Lehigh Valley Live news story published Tuesday, state police previously said they believe the person who robbed the First Northern Bank & Trust branch Friday is also responsible for the Saturday robbery of a Wells Fargo bank branch on Rt. 309 in North Whitehall Township. Karba had not been charged with that robbery as of Tuesday.
Lehigh Valley Live reported that a trooper at the Bethlehem barracks said police have no further information on either robbery at this time.
In the Lower Saucon Township incident, Karba–whose address was on Sixth Street in Bethlehem at the time of his arrest, and was later listed as Upper Darby in court records–was accused of fleeing South Mountain Park in a blue Chevy Camaro after an officer approached him and two 17-year-old girls and found one of the girls holding a container that contained green-brown vegetable matter that field-tested positive as marijuana.
After the marijuana was positively identified police said one of the girls had an anxiety attack, and while officers tended to her Karba jumped into the car, locked the doors and started the engine as an officer tried to open a door.
“Dylan put the vehicle in drive and ran over that officer’s foot,” police said at the time. “Dylan then spun the vehicle in a circular motion around the officers…(who) protected the two juvenile females as the vehicle jumped the curb and fled.”
Karba originally faced a long list of charges as a result of the incident, but as a result of a plea deal was convicted only of Misdemeanor 2 simple assault and Misdemeanor 2 Fleeing or Attempting to Elude an Officer.
He was sentenced to serve one to 12 months in jail and 12 months of probation, and was ordered to pay court costs, $350 in fines and $100 in restitution to the officer whose foot was run over, Gregorio Mora, and was also ordered to write a letter of apology to Mora and to perform five hours of community service, according to court records.
On Karba’s Facebook page, he lists his occupations as sales representative and DJ, and states that he has studied at Temple University.
His cover photo is a picture of the Bethlehem Star, which is located atop South Mountain in Lower Saucon Township, not far from the park where he was arrested about a week before he published the photo on July 7, 2017.