A Schuylkill County man is wanted by police and facing felony burglary charges after they say he climbed onto a roof and attempted to enter his ex-girlfriend’s apartment window early Monday morning.
Gavin Williams, 32, of Minersville, is charged with first-degree felony burglary, third-degree felony criminal trespass, first-degree misdemeanor stalking, and summary harassment.
According to police, Williams is currently out on bail and explicitly barred from contacting the victim following a separate domestic violence case filed in February.
Police say they were dispatched to an apartment building in the 100 block of Sunbury St. shortly after 2 a.m. on May 4 for a reported breaking and entering.
At the scene, the victim told police that Williams, her ex-boyfriend, attempted to access her apartment through a rear window via a fire escape. The victim provided police with photos and video of the incident.
While canvassing the roof, police say they observed recent footprints leading to the back of the building. A top-floor neighbor told police he heard a disturbance roughly 20 minutes prior and saw a white male with a goatee wearing a “gear sweatshirt” sitting outside a window on the roof. Police say the neighbor’s account matched the description provided by the victim.
Williams was gone by the time police arrived, and officers were unable to locate him at his own Minersville residence.
Police say video footage provided by the victim clearly shows Williams’s torso through the window. In the video, the victim can be heard telling Williams to leave as she closes the window, but Williams then pushes the window back open. Police noted that a facial tattoo positively identified Williams in the images.
During a subsequent phone call with police, Williams allegedly admitted to being on the roof and placing himself in the window, claiming he was provoked into a verbal altercation.
February Assault Charges
At the time of Monday’s incident, Williams was already out on bail and ordered to have no contact with the victim stemming from a Feb. 3 altercation at the same apartment building.
In that incident, police were called to same Sunbury St. location shortly before 5 a.m. for an assault in progress. The victim was fleeing the apartment toward a neighbor and told police Williams had just strangled her.
The victim alleged that she and Williams were arguing and she told him to leave several times, but he refused. Police say Williams grabbed the woman by the throat to the point that she nearly lost consciousness. He also allegedly took her phone and blocked the apartment door to prevent her from leaving.
For the February incident, Williams was charged with misdemeanor counts of strangulation, false imprisonment, simple assault, and defiant trespass, along with a summary count of harassment.
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