Woman Charged with Littering After Bomb Scare

By Christina Georgiou

Members of the Northampton County Bomb Squad prepare
to investigate a suspicious bag that was tossed from a car
along Northampton Street late Tuesday morning. The
purse was later deemed harmless, but the incident shut down
surrounding roads for nearly two hours, and numerous
personnel from the Easton Police and the Easton Fire
department were involved in the event.

A New York woman will be charged with littering after she tossed a purse out onto Northampton Street near Seventh Street in Easton's West Ward late Tuesday morning, which resulted in a bomb scare that shut down roads in the immediate area for nearly two hours.

Yolanda Santana, 21, formerly of Easton and now residing New York City, had just purchased a new purse at Walmart and finished transferring the contents of her bag when she decided to discard her old black bag at the side of the road from the passenger seat of her friend's car, Lt. Sam Lobb said.

The presence of the bag, which contained two boxes inside, alarmed a witness, who called police thinking the parcel might be a bomb.

While Easton police didn't have a license plate number, the white Buick with a black top was captured by the city's surveillance cameras in the area, giving authorities a good description of the distinctive-looking vehicle.

Lobb said he spotted the car parked along Walnut Street Wednesday evening and tracked down the owner, who lives in Coopersburg. She has not been charged in the incident.

Santana spoke with police at the Easton police station later that evening and admitted tossing the bag, Lobb said.

"She didn't intend to cause harm," Lobb said. "She just didn't think and tossed the bag."

Santana will also be held responsible for expenses incurred by the mobilization the Northampton County Bomb Squad, the Easton Fire Department, and Easton police officers during the incident.

The littering charge carries a fine of $50 to 300.

An estimate of the costs of mobilizing the numerous emergency personnel to deal with the incident, including bomb squad personnel from Bethlehem, has not yet been tallied.