A Pottsville woman remains in Schuylkill County Prison after her gun found at the scene of a crash she abandoned had a filed off serial number.
According to court documents filed by State Police-Schuylkill Haven, Troopers were dispatched to Pottsville St. in Mechanicsville at about 1:20 a.m. on Dec. 29. There, police say they found a Jeep Compass on its roof, crashed into a wooded area.
Before the vehicle was towed from the scene, police say they spotted a black Ruger LCP MAX .380 automatic on the floor by the driver’s seat. Police say the gun had its serial number filed down. The gun was collected from the scene as evidence.
The registered owner of the vehicle was then contacted and eventually, police learned that Kora Beaver, 24, of Pottsville, had been driving the vehicle at the time of the crash. She had asked to use the vehicle prior to the crash, police say they learned.
On Dec. 31, shortly after midnight, police say they spoke with Beaver on the phone and she reportedly admitted to driving the Jeep at the time of the crash and agreed to meet police at the Schuylkill Haven barracks for an interview later that night.
In that interview, Beaver allegedly admitted to driving the Jeep off an embankment but fled the scene because she didn’t have a valid driver’s license. So, she went home instead. Police asked her if she had any personal belongings in the vehicle at the time of the crash and she reportedly told police that her legally-owned handgun was inside.
Beaver allegedly told police that she purchased the gun about a month prior and that she used a Dremel to file off the serial number so she could add jewels to it. Police took Beaver into custody at that point.
Beaver was arraigned before District Magistrate Judge David Plachko at 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day and charged with a second-degree felony for possessing a gun with an altered serial number as well as several summary offenses related to the vehicle crash.
Plachko set bail at $25,000 cash and remanded her to Schuylkill County Prison. Bail has not been posted as of this post being published. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 4 before Plachko.
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