Airen Kevin Emfinger, in a June 2012 mugshot from Lansdale Police (Credit: Lansdale Police)
Towamencin, Lansdale police file separate charges tied to June theft and August drug arrest against Airen Kevin Emfinger
A convicted felon was charged in two separate gun cases in the North Penn area after police said a firearm stolen in Towamencin Township in June was recovered during his arrest two months later at the Lansdale YMCA on Saturday.
Airen Kevin Emfinger, 35, a transient who is known to frequent the North Penn and Philadelphia areas, was charged Aug. 11 by Towamencin Police with felony counts of theft, receiving stolen property, firearms carried without a license, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
He was charged the same day by Lansdale Police with two counts each of felony possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and carrying a firearm without a license, one felony count of receiving stolen property, and four misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court documents.
According to Towamencin Police, a resident of the 1800 block of Nashmont Court reported June 4, 2025 that a black Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm handgun was stolen from a bedroom inside the home. The victim’s son told police he noticed various items missing after Emfinger, an acquaintance, visited between May 29 and May 30.
Police said the stolen gun had been kept in a backpack in the father’s bedroom, and Emfinger did not have permission to enter that room or take the firearm.
On Saturday morning, Lansdale Police said they arrested Emfinger at the Lansdale YMCA on East Main Street for an active warrant related to a prior drug possession case.
Officers responded for a report of a medical call. Upon arrival, the female caller motioned to police where Emfinger was sleeping at a table. Officers rubbed the back of Emfinger, who woke up with red and glassy eyes, police said. Prior to being handcuffed, police asked if he was OK or needed an ambulance, and Emfinger said he was just sleeping and did not need EMS.
During a search, a small black RTS Model 1966 .22-caliber revolver was recovered from Emfinger's third pair of pants, which was being used as his underwear, police said.
Police said a large teal gym bag he was carrying contained a black fanny pack holding the stolen Smith & Wesson handgun from the Towamencin case. The firearm was loaded with one round in the chamber and eight in the magazine, police said.
Also recovered were two used baggies containing an unknown substance and two glass pipes commonly used for ingesting drugs, police said.
A criminal history check showed Emfinger had pleaded guilty to a robbery in Norristown in 2013, making him ineligible to possess a firearm.
Emfinger was jailed on $50,000 cash bail in the Towamencin case and $25,000 cash bail in the Lansdale case, according to court records. Consecutive preliminary hearings are scheduled for Aug. 20 before Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine. He is represented by the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office.
Court records show Emfinger also has two other active cases in Montgomery County Court: misdemeanor drug charges from a July 2024 incident in Montgomery Township and felony firearm possession and drug charges from a January 2025 arrest in Plymouth Township.
Emfinger was arrested in June 2012 in Lansdale Borough following a foot chase across the west ward of the borough after he allegedly pulled a knife on a Lansdale resident on West Mount Vernon Street near Salford Avenue.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
