A 29-year-old woman is in Berks County Prison after an incident in which state police said she entered an 83-year-old woman’s Longswamp Township apartment as the elderly woman was carrying groceries inside and refused to leave.
Miranda Zentner, 29, of Alburtis, Lehigh County, was jailed in lieu of $5,000 bail to await a hearing following arraignment Friday before District Judge Ann L. Young in Reading Central Court. She faces a felony count of criminal trespassing involving entering a structure along with lesser trespassing counts.
Court records indicated Zentner had not posted bail as of Monday.
Troopers from the Reading station provided this account:
About 2:30 p.m. Friday, the victim returned to her home on Tower Drive from grocery shopping. She parked her car across the street from her apartment and noticed a woman later identified as Zentner inside a white sedan parked next to her.
The victim did not know Zentner, who offered to carry her groceries. The victim declined the request and proceeded to her home, unlocking the front door and entering the apartment. Before she could lock the door, however, Zentner entered.
The victim repeatedly asked Zentner to leave, eventually offering her money to do so, but Zentner refused to leave. The victim somehow coerced Zentner to step outside, and when she did, the victim locked the door and called 911.
Zentner was using a miscellaneous key to try to reenter the apartment. The victim told police that Zentner kept calling her “Mom” and asking her to let her back inside.
When troopers arrived, Zentner was standing outside the front door, where she was taken into custody.
Source: Berkshire mont
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