{"id":5219,"date":"2025-10-17T04:19:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T04:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/5219\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T04:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T04:19:16","slug":"bethlehem-police-searching-for-n-j-teen-in-restaurant-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/5219\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethlehem police searching for N.J. teen in restaurant shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police are searching for a New Jersey teen they say shot two people following a fight <\/a>at al South Bethlehem<\/a> eatery.<\/p>\n

Ashton Jordan Thomas, 18, of the 300 block of Prospect Street in Stewartsville, Warren County, is charged with two counts felony attempted criminal homicide, as well as four counts felony aggravated assault; a felony weapons offense; and related charges.<\/p>\n

A warrant for Thomas\u2019 arrest has been filed at the office of District Judge Jordan A. Knisley.<\/p>\n

Bethlehem Police Capt. Nicholas Lechman said the gunfire began shortly after midnight Aug. 8 at Sizzling Bites<\/a>, 312 E. 3rd St.<\/p>\n

Investigators found a man seated outside the eatery with gunshot wounds to his right hand and right upper thigh, court records state. The male victim was taken to an area hospital for treatment.<\/p>\n

Another woman was found inside Sizzling Bites suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, court records state. She was taken to an area hospital in a private vehicle, according to court records. <\/p>\n

Both victims were later listed in stable condition at the hospital. No other injuries were reported. <\/p>\n

Video surveillance footage inside the eatery captured the gunfire and linked Thomas, according to the affidavit of probable cause. The court record lays out evidence and witness testimony against a defendant.<\/p>\n

Court records state Thomas entered the restaurant with two other men, ages 18 and 19, identified by law enforcement. Charges have not been filed as of Tuesday morning against the two others.<\/p>\n

The trio, while waiting in line outside the restaurant allegedly began arguing with another group. The male victim slapped one of Thomas\u2019 friends and a fight broke out, court records state.<\/p>\n

Thomas is then shown in the footage removing a handgun from his right pocket and firing five shots at the two victims, court records state.<\/p>\n

At the time of the shooting, about eight people were in the direct line of fire, with more than 30 patrons inside Sizzling Bites, city police said.<\/p>\n

The trio then ran, with other surveillance video footage obtained by investigators showing Thomas allegedly heading east on East Third Street, before turning south on Polk Street. Thomas eventually is picked up in a black Hyundai Azera, court records state. <\/p>\n

Investigators recovered from the scene five spent .45 casings; a single full bullet; and four projectiles, according to court records.<\/p>\n

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police are searching for a New Jersey teen they say shot two people following a fight at al…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-5219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}