A Hellertown man was arrested Monday and charged with smashing vehicle windshields across Bethlehem’s South Side and surrounding Northampton County communities in a months-long vandalism spree that police say may involve roughly 100 vehicles and tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
Grant M. Chase, 37, was taken into custody without incident Monday morning after Bethlehem Police executed a search and arrest warrant at his residence. He faces charges of criminal mischief as a felony of the third degree, a misdemeanor of the second degree and a misdemeanor of the third degree, according to court records.
Chase had been under investigation since late 2025, when law enforcement agencies across the county began receiving a wave of complaints about parked vehicles being struck with what is believed to have been a hammer. The suspect became informally known within the community as the “Hammer Slammer,” according to the Bethlehem Police Department.
Bethlehem police said investigators determined that incidents in the city occurred between Dec. 3, 2025, and March 22, 2026, with vehicles targeted along East 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th Streets and surrounding blocks in the southeastern portion of the South Side.
According to police, the suspect deliberately chose areas with limited lighting and no city camera coverage, which complicated the investigation, as well as a lack of clear residential surveillance footage and delayed reporting from victims who did not always discover the damage immediately.
During a single night between March 21 and March 22, police said, eight vehicles were damaged with estimated repair costs of approximately $8,000. Total damages across all incidents are estimated to be several tens of thousands of dollars, according to the Bethlehem Police Department’s media release.
Surveillance footage from multiple locations proved critical to the case, according to police. Video showed a suspect walking through neighborhoods overnight and striking windshields. In some instances, the suspect attempted to conceal his identity, police said.
On March 18, Bethlehem Police executed a search warrant at Chase’s Hellertown residence and recovered evidence related to the investigation. After subsequent surveillance operations monitored his movements, a second search warrant and an arrest warrant were executed Monday.
Police said the additional evidence recovered included clothing consistent with what was seen in the surveillance footage.
The investigation was coordinated with the Hellertown Borough Police Department, Lower Saucon Township Police Department and Lehigh University Police Department.
Chase was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Nicholas E. Englesson, who set bail at $50,000. Chase was unable to post bail and was remanded to Northampton County Prison. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 7 at 10:30 a.m. before Englesson.
Court records show Chase has prior convictions in Northampton County, including a 2021 guilty plea to criminal trespass and a 2023 bench trial conviction on a separate trespass charge, in which a judge ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation at Northampton County Prison prior to release.
A separate disorderly conduct case stemming from a May 2025 incident in Hellertown is also currently pending in the Court of Common Pleas, with a criminal court date scheduled for April 28.
The Bethlehem Police Department said anyone with additional information related to the investigation is urged to contact them at [email protected].
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