Sunshine Firecracker’s "Theft Charges": Who Stole the Light on Apple Street?

Date: January 17, 2026

Location: Ephrata, PA

In the court of public opinion, "Theft" is a dirty word. It implies a lack of character, a taking of something that isn't yours. But in the legal world—the world where I earned my Juris Doctor—theft is a statute with specific elements. It is a puzzle that must be proven.

There are rumors and dockets in Lancaster County attached to my name. They want to talk about "Theft." They want to talk about "property." Fine. Let’s talk about it.

If we are going to talk about Theft Charges, let’s look at the evidence. Let’s look at who actually took property, safety, and warmth from whom. While the Borough was busy measuring grass to find reasons to fine me, they were missing a House of Horrors right under their noses.

This is not a defense. This is an indictment.

They tried to lock up the light, but they forgot about the spark. The Sunshine Firecracker cannot be extinguished by a policy of darkness.

The Statute: 18 Pa. C.S. § 3921

Under Pennsylvania law, Theft by Unlawful Taking occurs when a person "unlawfully takes, or exercises unlawful control over, movable property of another with intent to deprive him thereof."

It sounds simple. But in Ephrata, the law is applied selectively.

• If I am accused: The full weight of the state comes down in a "Legal Comedy of Errors", labeled as "justice."
• If I report a theft: The police claim they have "no authority to get involved."
• If I demand competency: I am met with a "Keystone Cop comedy."
• If the crime stats threaten property values: They make the reports "disappear like Houdini."
• If the church tries to help the homeless: The Council weaponizes zoning laws to stop them.
• If they violate the Constitution: They claim "accountability is optional" under Qualified Immunity.
• If the Borough takes my utilities: It is called "policy."
• If my home is stripped of resources: It is called a "civil matter."

The Anatomy of Injustice in #EphTheBoro

Lancaster County is often painted in broad, pastoral strokes. But there is a shadow side to this geography, a localized reality I have come to know as #EphTheBoro.

I have documented this reality in The Ephrata Files, a comprehensive record of this siege. When you strip away a citizen's basic resources—when you cut the power and weaponize the cold—you are no longer engaging in civil litigation. You are engaging in attrition warfare.

Count 1: The Theft of Utilities (USTRA Violation)

Date of Offense: March 16, 2023

The Taking: The termination of electric service at 1368 Apple Street.

On March 16, 2023, the lights went out. This was not a passive event; it was an active taking of my habitability.

Under the Utility Service Tenants Rights Act (USTRA) (66 Pa. C.S. § 1521 et seq.), a tenant has a statutory property right to continued service and must be given a 30-day notice before termination. That notice is property. It is the due process right to secure safety. The Borough of Ephrata stole that time.

The Evidence of Intent: Theft requires "intent to deprive." When I walked to the Borough office to restore service, I didn't just ask—I offered to pay. I attempted to transfer service into my name to stop the bleeding. They refused the money.

When a creditor refuses payment, it proves the goal was never the debt. The goal was the deprivation. That is the definition of Constructive Eviction—a theft of the home itself.

Count 2: The Theft of Due Process (Solicitor Wakefield)

Date of Offense: September 3, 2024

The Taking: The refusal of the Borough Council to act on a citizen’s plea.

Theft isn't always physical. Sometimes, what is stolen is your voice. On September 3, 2024, I stood before the Ephrata Borough Council. I presented a timeline of the siege. I asked for help. The Borough Solicitor, Isaac P. Wakefield, went on the record—memorialized in the minutes forever—stating:

"There is nothing Council is able to do."

That statement was a theft of Due Process. It was the theft of the government's obligation to its citizens. When a solicitor tells a resident that the governing body is powerless to stop injustice, they are stealing the First Amendment right to petition the government. They stole the remedy, leaving me in a legal dead zone—a classic symptom of Official Oppression.

Count 3: The Theft of Reputation (Malicious Prosecution)

Date of Offense: August 5, 2024 (and ongoing)

The Taking: The weaponization of the "Sunshine Firecracker" identity.

The police logs refer to me as the "Sunshine Firecracker." They treat the name like an alias, a badge of deviance to justify their surveillance. But they are stealing the context. This name is not just a moniker; it is the Sunshine Firecracker identity, the archetype of the citizen activist needed to fight this very corruption.

They took the narrative of a survivor—a woman who was forced to kick the steel door of Cell 43 on March 20, 2023, screaming for medical care until she lost her voice—and tried to rewrite it as a criminal history. They stole the truth of my trauma and replaced it with a mugshot. This is Malicious Prosecution: how narcissists weaponize the legal system not to find truth, but to inflict pain.

Count 4: The Theft of Liberty (MDJ Torrey Landis)

Date of Offense: August 2024

The Taking: The imposition of $75,000 cash bail for a Facebook tag.

Perhaps the most egregious theft occurred in the summer of 2024. I was charged with Indirect Criminal Contempt (ICC). The allegation? That I used the pseudonym "Sunshine Firecracker" on Facebook, which they claimed violated a "no-contact" provision.

For this—a non-violent, digital act of self-expression—MDJ Torrey Landis set bail at a staggering $75,000 cash.

The Motive: This arrest occurred just one day after I published Ephrata's Dirty Little Secret, an article exposing how Landis has criminalized homelessness in our borough. The high bail was not for public safety; it was retaliation for journalism.

The Constitutional Violation: Article I, Section 13 of the Pennsylvania Constitution forbids "excessive bail." To demand $75,000 for a Facebook post is not judicial discretion; it is a Theft of Liberty—a symptom of the abusive bail system plaguing this Lancaster County. It is a ransom note designed to keep a whistleblower silent. By setting a bail amount typically reserved for violent felons, the court ensured I could not purchase my freedom.

Count 5: The Theft of Speech (The Constitution Day Retaliation)

Date of Offense: September 18, 2025

The Taking: Retaliatory arrest and incarceration following protected speech.

If Counts 1 through 4 were the setup, Count 5 is the smoking gun. On September 17, 2025—Constitution Day—I sent an email titled "EVIDENCE SUBMISSION - Constitution Day 2025 Atom Bomb #ForCHARLIE" to the Lancaster County District Attorney. I exercised my First Amendment right to submit evidence of corruption.

Less than 24 hours later, on September 18, 2025, I was charged with a summary offense. I was arrested and incarcerated from September 21 to October 21, 2025.

In law, we call this "temporal proximity." In plain English, we call it retaliation. Just days earlier, I had publicly declared myself a whistleblower exposing corruption. The system did not arrest me because I was a danger to the community; they arrested me because I was a danger to their narrative. They stole 30 days of my life not to enforce the law, but to punish me for emailing the truth. They tried to steal the "Atom Bomb" by locking up the messenger.

The Verdict

So, when you hear about "Theft Charges" involving the Sunshine Firecracker, ask yourself the question a jury would ask: Who is the victim?

Is it the Borough, with its multi-million dollar budget, its militarized cosplay force, its armada of lawyers, and its refusal to follow the USTRA? Or is it the woman who has suffered for 1,043 days?

I warned you four months ago that Lancaster County is trying to kill me. I am not the thief. I am the evidence. And I am charging the system with the theft of a life.

#EphTheBoro | #SunshineFirecracker | #TheftOfJustice

Dr. Jennifer Gayle Sappington, J.D. Author & Investigative Journalist Member, National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981) Member ID: 172106 | Book & Journalism Division Creator, Inside the House of Skulls Investigative Series

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© 2026 SUNSHINE FIRECRACKER / DR. JENNIFER GAYLE SAPPINGTON, J.D. All Rights Reserved. This content is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution as an act of investigative journalism, political commentary, and public accountability.

EDITORIAL NOTE & DISCLAIMER: This article is an investigative report based on the Affidavit of Probable Cause filed by the Yeadon Police Department and the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.

• Presumption of Innocence: All individuals mentioned, including Jonathan Gerlach, are presumed innocent of any criminal charges until proven guilty in a court of law.
• Opinion vs. Fact: Statements characterizing the actions or inactions of third parties (e.g., "The Warehouse," "Systemic Negligence") represent the author's opinion and interpretation of public safety duties and are not statements of criminal fact established by a court.
• Source Attribution: The term "Macabre Museum" is a direct quote from District Attorney Tanner Rouse.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This commentary utilizes copyrighted material (including social media data and news summaries) under the protection of Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This usage is for the purposes of news reporting, criticism, and teaching, and constitutes a "fair use" of any such material.