A Schuylkill County couple faces felony theft charges after police say they drove off with a vehicle from a North Manheim Township dealership to test if it was equipped with a GPS tracker. They would soon find out that indeed, it was.
Beronica Dunston, 55, and Suresh Bisram, 42, both of Minersville, are each charged with third-degree felony theft by unlawful taking, third-degree felony receiving stolen property, and second-degree misdemeanor unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
State Police have an active arrest warrant for Bisram. Dunston was arraigned May 6 before Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker, with bail set at 10% of $12,500. According to court records, she’s being held at Schuylkill County Prison.
Police say they were dispatched on May 6 to a Route 61 car dealership for a report of a stolen 2014 black Toyota Camry. The dealership owner told police the vehicle, valued at $12,500, was taken from the lot on May 3. The owner stated an employee may have accidentally left the keys with the car.
The owner told police the vehicle was equipped with a GPS tracker, which showed the car parked at Redner’s nearby on May 3 and May 4. The owner said he recovered the car on May 4 and arranged for new locks and keys to be made.
Police say surveillance footage from the dealership on May 3 showed a white SUV park behind the Camry. A male and a female exited the SUV, walked through the lot, and eventually separated. Police say the male entered the Camry while the female returned to the driver’s seat of the SUV. The Camry then drove off the lot, followed by the white SUV, police say.
Police traced the SUV’s license plate to Bisram at a residence on N. 2nd St. in Minersville, where police made contact with Dunston.
Dunston told police that she and her fiancé, Bisram, were car shopping over the weekend when they saw the Camry with the keys in the door. Dunston stated they wondered if the dealership’s cars could be tracked, so Bisram drove the Camry to the grocery store lot to test it.
She told police they drove past the store the next day to check on the car, and noticed it was gone by Monday.
When questioned, Dunston declined to provide Bisram’s whereabouts to police. Dunston was taken into custody and processed.
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