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Police incident suspect, Joseph Aldinger charged with kidnapping in Cumberland County

Police say Joseph Aldinger carjacked a man, robbed a store, and then held four people hostage before he was arrested inside a salvation army store. Police block...
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Police say Joseph Aldinger carjacked a man, robbed a store, and then held four people hostage before he was arrested inside a salvation army store.

Police blocked off Devonshire Road in Lower Paxton Township for hours as they negotiated with a man who they say was holding 4 people hostage. Those people are safe after what was a very frightening day for not just them but many across Central Pennsylvania.

Our cameras were rolling as police carried Aldinger out of the salvation army store in Lower Paxton Township. Patrick Byrd and his co-workers witnessed it, too.

“I did not think that he would come running through our parking lot into the building next door and it would end like that,” said Byrd.

Byrd, and many others in the area were on edge all afternoon.

“It was kind of evident like what was going on. I was just waiting for it to go away or explode and it kind of exploded,” said Byrd.

Police arrested Aldinger shortly before 5 o’clock. But Dauphin County District Attorney, Ed Marsico, says his crime spree started hours before.

“He robbed a couple people earlier today. He attempted some other robberies. He literally was out of control,” said Marsico.

Marsico says it all started in Cumberland County where Aldinger allegedly carjacked a man. At  about 7:15 am Upper Allen Police responded to the Geneva Greens apartment complex for a report of an abandoned Toyota Land Cruiser in the parking lot.  Officers learned that the Land Cruiser was stolen from Lancaster County and the suspect had kidnapped a male victim from a Geneva Greens residence.

Marsico says then robbed a store before he entered a home on Devonshire Road.

“We had an armed suspect who had 4 innocent people in a home,” said Marsico.

Marsico says police negotiated with Aldinger. They thought he was going to turn himself in but instead he took off, armed, in a pick up truck. He eventually ditched the truck and ran into a salvation army store, where police carried him out.

Charges from Cumberland County against Aldinger include: Charges: Kidnapping, Unlawful Restraint, False Imprisonment, Robbery, Robbery of Motor Vehicle, Burglary, Receiving Stolen Property, Criminal Trespass, Terroristic Threats, Person not to Possess Firearm and Firearm not to be Carried without a License. Aldinger also faces charges in Lancaster and Dauphin Counties.

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