FOUNTAIN HILL, Pa. - Police exchanged gunfire with bandits who they say broke into a borough pharmacy, sparking a Christmas Eve standoff that led to a neighborhood lockdown and ended without anyone being hurt.
It happened shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday when a burglar alarm went off at the Fountain Hill Pharmacy at 1049 Broadway, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.
Police said they arrived and saw two armed men inside the drugstore; one of the men pointed a firearm at a borough officer, who opened fire but did not hit either defendant, said District Attorney Gavin Holihan and borough Police Chief Ed Bachert.
Authorities ordered borough residents to stay inside their homes during the standoff, with dozens of police outside and the men still in the pharmacy. The two eventually surrendered to police with no further shots being fired, police said.
Holihan said the investigation revealed the two broke into the drugstore, spray-painted surveillance cameras while inside and stole medication.
“Each time an officer uses potentially deadly force in the line of duty, a separate investigation is conducted to determine whether the use of deadly force was justified.”Gavin Holihan, Lehigh County district attorney
Arrested were Miguel Martinez, 56, of Allentown, and David Vazquez, 33, of Bethlehem. Vazquez fired upon police and two of the shots entered an occupied home across the street, authorities said.
Both men were arraigned Wednesday on multiple charges and committed to Lehigh County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail each.
Use of deadly force
They are charged with burglary, person not to possess firearms, recklessly endangering another person, theft by unlawful taking, possessing prohibited offensive weapons and possessing an instrument of crime.
“This investigation remains ongoing as well as a separate investigation regarding the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer,” Holihan said Wednesday in a prepared statement.
“Each time an officer uses potentially deadly force in the line of duty, a separate investigation is conducted to determine whether the use of deadly force was justified.”
Holihan did not identify the borough police officer who fired his weapon and there was no immediate word on his status.
Inside the pharmacy police allegedly recovered a 9mm handgun used during the burglary and five discharged bullet casings.
Large-scale response
The Lehigh County Emergency Response Team and Lehigh County District Attorney Homicide Task Force were activated for the investigation.
Lead investigators are Fountain Hill police Det. Raymond Anthony and Lehigh County Det. Moses Miller and Det. James Bruchak.
Agencies assisting included the Allentown Police Department, Bethlehem Police Department, South Whitehall Township Police Department, Coopersburg Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police.
