Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
A woman wanted by Los Angeles County authorities for a homicide and federal authorities for a mail theft case was arrested in Bristol Township.
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Bristol Township police Lt. C.J. Winik confirmed to LevittownNow.com that Emma Catherine Joseph, 34, was arrested on April 4 at the Rodeway Inn at the corner of Route 13 and Green Lane in the township.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department advised Bucks County law enforcement on April 2 that they believed Joseph was in the area. Bristol Township police then learned she may have been in their municipality, authorities said.
Winik said Joseph was believed to be in the area of the Rodeway Inn.
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Investigators used cell phone pings to find Joseph at the motel on April 4 and arrested her, police said.
Pamela Johnson, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, said Joseph was wanted for one count of murder and one count of attempted murder-willful, deliberate and premeditated. The allegations for the March Los Angeles homicide included the use of a firearm.
After Joseph’s Bucks County arrest, she was transported by the U.S. Marshals Service to California, and the U.S. Department of Justice requested she be detained, which a federal judge granted, according to federal prosecutors.
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According to federal detention paperwork, the U.S. Department of Justice expressed concerns that Joseph posed a “serious risk” of fleeing and endangering community safety. The court noted that she had outstanding warrants and had previously failed to appear in court. Additionally, she was believed to be abusing substances and had possible mental health issues.
As of Tuesday, Joseph was being held the the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison in Los Angeles.
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The mail theft case was tied to a federal indictment on charges of mail theft and possession of stolen mail. Authorities charged her and Jason Matthew McDowell, who went by the street name “Snake.”
According to the indictment and an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement agency that polices the nation’s mail, Joseph and McDowell stole mail in December 2021 from locations in Orange County, California. In March 2022, the duo were found to have possessed hundreds of pieces of mail stolen from Los Angeles.
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Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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