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Archive for the ‘PENNSYLVANIA’ Category
Former Bucks County Pennsylvania Prosecuor Joseph James Scafidi Pleads Guilty In Mortgage Theft, Sentenced To 18 To 36 Months In Prison
July 3rd, 2008
BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA - A former Bucks County prosecutor who had pleaded guilty to stealing mortgage payments, writing bad checks, and forging a judge’s signature was sentenced to prison by a Delaware County Court judge yesterday.
Joseph James Scafidi, 53, of Warminster, was sentenced to serve 18 to 36 months in state prison and five years on probation, ordered to pay $42,000 in restitution to the homeowners, and forbidden to work in the mortgage or any other financial business.
Scafidi, who was working as a mortgage broker when he was arrested, also pleaded guilty yesterday to new charges, including perjury. He had earlier told authorities under oath he didn’t know of any more fraudulent cases, but later acknowledged he was involved with others. The sentencing for the new charges was combined yesterday with the previous cases.
Read MorePittsburgh Police Officer Paul Abel Suspended After Beating Innocent Man - Has Previously Faced Nearly A Dozen Charges Of Misconduct, Including Lying To Sheriff’s Deputies - Lacks “Sound Judgement And Emotional Stability”
July 2nd, 2008
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - An off-duty Pittsburgh police officer who was arrested and suspended from the force this past weekend in connection with an assault on the South Side already had been facing nearly a dozen charges of misconduct before the city’s Citizen Police Review Board.
According to the board’s complaint, Officer Paul Abel is accused of starting a fight with his brother-in-law, Muhamid Desmond Thornton, last year at the Allegheny County Courthouse and then lying about the incident to sheriff’s deputies who arrested the brother-in-law for the disturbance.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Mr. Thornton’s wife.
It also accuses Officer Abel of having a “lack of sound judgment and emotional stability” because he posted his nickname, “Pit Bull,” on his personal page on the Web site myspace.com. He wrote on the site that the name was given to him by co-workers because he has a “tendency to knock the [expletive] out of people,” the complaint says.
Read MoreDisgraced Veteran Tredyffrin Pennsylvania Police Officer Michael J. McCarthy Receives A Tiny Slap On The Wrist After Beating His Wife
July 1st, 2008
NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA - A Chester County police officer will serve a probationary sentence for harassing his wife during an argument inside their Lower Pottsgrove home.
Michael J. McCarthy, 37, a 10-year veteran of the Tredyffrin Police Department, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Monday to one year of probation in connection with the June 2007 incident.
President Judge Richard J. Hodgson also ordered McCarthy to complete an anger management counseling program and 24 hours of community service as conditions of the sentence.
Last month, a jury convicted McCarthy of a misdemeanor charge of harassment. Specifically, the jury determined McCarthy communicated lewd, obscene or threatening words to his wife during the argument inside the couple’s home with the intent to harass, annoy or alarm.
However, with a split verdict, the jury acquitted McCarthy of more serious charges of simple assault in connection with the incident. Those charges could have carried potential jail time.
Read MoreCoatesville Pennsylvania Police Officer Claude James Simpkins Quits In Disgrace After Beating And Choking A Child
July 1st, 2008
COATESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA - The off-duty Coatesville police officer accused of assaulting a teenager was reportedly forced to resign Friday.
Claude James Simpkins, 37, of Westtown, is accused of choking the teen and hitting him in the face June 18 while the victim and two of his friends sat in a parked car near the officer’s home.
Simpkins pleaded not guilty Monday before Magisterial District Judge William D. Kraut.
During the hearing, defense attorney John Duffy criticized Coatesville Police Chief William Matthews for allegedly forcing Simpkins to resign in lieu of getting fired.
Duffy accused Matthews of prematurely letting Simpkins go before conducting an investigation into the incident.
Upset with the decision, Duffy called Matthews and Coatesville City Council “outrageous.”
Duffy also criticized Matthews for allegedly firing Simpkins when the chief is not a state-certified officer himself.
“The chief of police up there can’t even qualify as a police officer,” Duffy said.
Read MoreChild Testifies After Being Beaten And Choked By Coatesville Pennsylvania Police Officer Claude James Simpkins
July 1st, 2008
WESTTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA - A 17-year-old victim testified Monday that an off-duty Coatesville police officer assaulted him while he sat in a car with two teenage friends.
Claude James Simpkins, 37, of Westtown, is accused of choking the teen and hitting him in the face while he and two friends sat in a parked car near the officer’s home.
The victim and his two friends testified Monday that they were sitting in a car outside Westtown Mews Apartments and debating where to go eat when Simpkins approached them.
They said Simpkins tapped on a rear window and asked for the victim, who was siting in the front passenger seat.
The victim said that as he started to open the door, Simpkins choked him with one hand then punched him.
“He (Simpkins) said, ‘Get out of the car,’ and I opened the door and he came over and strangled me and punched me in my mouth and started strangling me again,” the victim testified.
Read MorePittsburgh Pennsylvania Police Officer Paul Abel Arrested, Suspended, And Charged With DUI After Shooting Man In Drunken Bar Fight
June 29th, 2008
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - Police responded to the corner of 20th and Sidney streets at approximately 2:15 a.m. Saturday morning for the report of a man with a gun.
When they arrived at the scene, police discovered that officer Paul Abel had shot a 20-year-old male inside a bar at that location.
The police report states that Abel was driving home from a South Side bar when an unknown man reached into his driver’s side window and punched him in the face.
Following this, Abel retrieved his pistol and returned to the bar to confront his attacker. With the gun in his hand, Abel swung at the victim and hit the back of his head with the butt of the weapon. The gun discharged upon contact and a bullet penetrated the victim’s right hand. He was taken to Mercy Hospital for his injury.
Read MorePhiladelphia Pennsylvania Security Guard Arrested For Anti-Police YouTube Video
June 28th, 2008
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - t took just a few weeks for Andre Moore to go from YouTube to the slammer.
Members of the state attorney general’s Gun Violence Task Force announced Moore’s abrupt career change yesterday morning by smashing a battering ram through the door of his West Philadelphia apartment.
The 44-year-old was arrested for calling for the murder of 18th District police officers in a video titled “Dissin’ Philly Cops” that he posted on YouTube on June 6, law-enforcement officials said.
Moore, who’s now been suspended from his job as a security guard at Albert Einstein Medical Center, was less than subtle in his performance.
While waving a gun through the air, Moore said, “I rejoice whenever they shoot a cop in Philadelphia because I hate them,” according to a court affidavit containing a transcript of the video.
Read MoreStudent Charged By Bellefonte Pennsylvania Police With Mooning Streakers From Dorm Room Window
June 25th, 2008
BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA — Charges against a Penn State student accused of appearing naked in his dorm window and pressing his buttocks against the glass were ordered bound for trial Wednesday after a preliminary hearing before District Judge Leslie Dutchcot.
Brian M.I. Block, 19, of 1729 Ridgeway Road, Havertown, is charged with open lewdness and disorderly conduct after the incident at 12:39 a.m. May 5 in a window above where the annual Mifflin Streak was taking place, according to court documents.
The Mifflin Streak is a tradition held before finals week every spring in which students run through crowds of students on Mifflin Road at about midnight. Block was spotted naked in his dorm window by a residence life coordinator, police said.
Read MoreCoked Up, Gun Toting Former Weissport Pennsylvania Mayor Guy “Tinker” Frehulfer Sentenced To Just 5 1/2 Months In Federal Prison
June 24th, 2008
WEISSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA - Former Weissport mayor Guy “Tinker” Frehulfer, 53, was sentenced today to five and a half months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing a gun while using cocaine and crack cocaine, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Frehulfer pleaded guilty in September to committing the offense in 2005 in Carbon County. He had been one of 20 people charged in a drug case as the result of an FBI and state police investigation.
Another defendant, Melissa Karley, 27, was sentenced Friday to six years and four months. Karley pleaded guilty in March 2006 to letting others store and sell cocaine and crack cocaine from her Carbon County home in 2004 and 2005.
Fifteen of the other 18 defendants likewise have pleaded guilty while the remaining three await trial. Appeared Here
Fired For Shooting At A Tractor Trailer 7 Times, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Police Officer Paul Anthony Palmer Jr. Sentenced To 52 Months In Federal Prison After Bomb He Was Making Blow Off Part Of His Arm
June 21st, 2008
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - A former Pittsburgh policeman who was fired after shooting at a big rig during a fit of road rage told a federal judge Friday he didn’t mean to hurt anyone when the bombs he was making last year blew off part of his arm.
“I didn’t even know what the potential damage was before this happened,” said Paul Anthony Palmer Jr., 39, who sports a teardrop tattoo below his right eye and a spider web design over the nub left by the amputation on his left forearm. Investigators claim Palmer’s tattoos are typically associated with the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group whose motto is “violence solves everything.”
U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone sentenced Palmer, formerly of North Fayette, to 52 months in prison for his guilty plea to a charge of possessing an unregistered destructive device.
Read MoreClearfield Pennsylvania Police Officers Brian Dixon And Sgt. Gregory Neeper Not Held Accountable For Their Actions, Now Claim DA Held Political Grudge
June 19th, 2008
CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA - Two police officers allege in a federal lawsuit that a prosecutor with a political grudge wrongly accused them of lying in police reports.
Clearfield Officer Brian Dixon and Sgt. Gregory Neeper said in the suit filed Wednesday that Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw Jr. prosecuted them in February on several misdemeanors “in retaliation for their support of his political opponent” in his 2007 re-election campaign.
The charges against the officers, which included criminal conspiracy and witness intimidation, were later dismissed by a district judge.
Shaw “retaliated against Dixon and Neeper for exercising their right to speak,” the officers said in the suit, which alleged malicious prosecution and violation of the officers’ First Amendment rights.
The suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Shaw referred questions Thursday morning to county solicitor Kim Kesner, who declined comment because neither he nor Shaw had been served the paperwork.
Read MorePhiladelphia Police And Pennsylvania State Police Enter And Search House Without A Warrant After Residents In Their Own Home Refused To Identify Themselves - Residents Held Without Charges During Search As Police Tried To Come Up Some Kind Of Charges
June 18th, 2008
NORTH PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - Four young residents of a North Philadelphia house who circulated petitions questioning police-surveillance cameras were rousted from their home Friday and detained 12 hours without charges while police searched their house.
Daniel Moffat, 28, a co-owner of the house, said police had no warrant when they entered. The house was examined by officials from several government agencies and then shuttered by the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections.
“This leaves me homeless, without access to things I need. My whole life is disrupted,” Moffat said yesterday.
The raid on the property on Ridge Avenue near Parrish Street was led by 9th District Police Capt. Dennis Wilson, who was quoted in an online story by the City Paper as saying of the residents: “They’re a hate group. We’re trying to drum up charges against them, but unfortunately we’ll probably have to let them go.”
Read MoreStudent Fighting Bogus Pennsylvania Lewdness Charge Is Getting Lots Of Support - Decades Old Streaking Tradition Kicks Off Spring Finals Week
June 16th, 2008
BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA - Elizabeth Burke never wanted her 15 minutes of fame like this.
Elizabeth Burke, who was arrested during the annual “Mifflin Streak” at Penn State, is fighting an open lewdness charge. The legal fight has brought interview requests from local and national news outlets.
But since the 20-year-old English major from Jamison decided last week to fight the open lewdness charge filed against her by Penn State police stemming from the annual “Mifflin Streak,” she has been fielding interview requests from the press and answering a long list of text messages and telephone calls offering support.
Burke was arrested along with seven male students during this year’s edition of the “Mifflin Streak,” which takes place late at night the weekend before spring finals. It’s a tradition that goes back decades.
Read MoreHomicide Trial Begins For Former Pennsylvania Police Chief Richard Curran - Shot His Nurse Wife 7 Times Over Custody Of Their 2 Young Girls
June 16th, 2008
SUNBURY, PENNSYLVANIA - Trial is set to begin in Northumberland County Court for a former police chief accused of shooting his estranged wife to death in a dispute over custody of their two young girls.
Prosecutors say Richard Curran shot 31-year-old Tina Curran seven times on Aug. 24, 2005, outside Shamokin Area Community Hospital where she worked as a nurse.
Richard Curran was captured hours later in Niagara Falls, N.Y., while trying to cross the border into Canada.
His trial is set to begin Monday.
Curran had been hired as a police officer in Bernville, Berks County, shortly before his ex-wife was slain. He had formerly served as the police chief and only officer in Millerstown, Perry County. Appeared Here
Lawsuit Charges Liberty Borough Pennsylvania Police Officers Nick Caito And Jay Legin With Sexual Harassment
June 14th, 2008
LIBERTY BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA - A former South Allegheny student who received inappropriate text messages from two Liberty Borough police officers has filed a federal lawsuit against the school district and those men.
The claim in federal court names as defendants Officers Nick Caito and Jay Legin, and borough Police Chief Luke Riley, who also serves as South Allegheny’s school board president.
Kellie Kucera, who graduated last year and now is a student at Seton Hill University, claims that Officers Caito and Legin sent her text messages from February until April 2007, which caused her to lose sleep and worry about her safety.
She is charging sexual harassment and creating a hostile educational environment and claiming that the school district and police department provided no training to avoid or rectify the behavior.
Read MoreIf The Penis Won’t Fit, You Must Acquit: Man With Extraordinarily Large Penis (A “Freak Of Nature”) Says He Couldn’t Possibly Have Raped Girl - Prosecutor Fights Lawyer’s Efforts To Clear His Client - Lawyer Measured Man With A “Yard Stick”
June 14th, 2008
LANSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA - The attorney representing a Lansdale man in a high-profile rape case wants a mold made of his client’s penis to prove to jurors that he couldn’t have committed the crime.
Attorney Marvin Gold wants Montgomery County prison officials to give Ronald A. McDade, 33, the privacy and a special kit to make a cast of his genitalia before he’s tried on charges that he raped a 13-year-old girl in January.
Gold said McDade’s accuser didn’t suffer injuries consistent with someone who had been assaulted by his client, whom he described as a “freak of nature” who is “extraordinarily large.”
Prosecutor Todd Stephens called the request an outlandish attempt to create a sideshow.
“I’ve never once seen a request as ridiculous as this,” said Stephens, who has prosecuted sex crimes for seven years in Montgomery County. “This isn’t Hollywood. This is a courtroom. And we do things based upon facts and medical evidence, not off-the-cuff suggestions by defense attorneys.”
Read MoreWoman Fights Bogus Lewdness Charge On Grounds That She Did Not “Affront Or Alarm” Anyone As The Law Requires - Yearly Streaking Tradition Kicks Off Spring Finals Week
June 13th, 2008
BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA — The lone female defendant in this year’s “Mifflin Streak” is fighting the open lewdness charge filed against her by Penn State police on the basis that her naked sprint did not “affront or alarm” anyone, as the law requires for such a charge.
Elizabeth R. Burke, 20, of Jamison, was the only woman among eight people nabbed just after midnight May 5 on Mifflin Road in what is known as the Mifflin Streak, held every year to kick off spring finals week.
More than 1,000 people gathered to watch this year’s streak, and a number of police officers turned out to nab the naked.
And therein lies Burke’s point — that she cannot be guilty of open lewdness because everyone was there to watch the streakers, and therefore could not be “affronted or alarmed” as the open lewdness charge would require.
Read MoreAmish Farmers Sentenced To Jail By Cambria County Judge Over School Outhouses - Our Tax Dollars Hard At Work In Pennsylvania
June 13th, 2008
HASTINGS, PENNSYLVANIA - Two Amish farmers who said their religious convictions prevent them from operating outhouses in compliance with state sewage laws were sentenced Thursday to 90 days in jail after turning down an offer to do community service.
County sewage officials said Andy Swartzentruber and Sam Yoder do not have permits for outhouses at a school and have been disposing of waste improperly. Both men, who belong to one of the Christian sect’s more conservative groups, said the permits would violate their religious beliefs.
A district judge on Thursday offered the men, who represented themselves in court, a chance to pay a fine or perform community service in order to avoid jail time.
But Swartzentruber, who owns the property the school is on, and Yoder, a school elder, declined both options. Performing community service also would go against their religion, they said.
Read MoreFormer Fayette County Pennsylvania Mailman Jeffrey Booker Receives A Slap On The Wrist For Hiding 18,000 Pieces Of Mail Instead Of Delivering Them
June 13th, 2008
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - A former Fayette County mail carrier has been sentenced to one year’s probation for hiding more than 18,000 pieces of mail he didn’t feel like delivering.
Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh say 28-year-old Jeffrey Booker of New Salem will spend half his probation under house arrest.
Prosecutors say Booker did not intend to steal the mail and cooperated with investigators.
Authorities say a pest exterminator found most of the undelivered mail tucked behind a wall in a Uniontown apartment complex.
Booker pleaded guilty in March to delay of mail by a postal employee.
East Taylor Pennsylvania Police Officer Cathy Jo Foust Shoots Herself While Loading Pistol
June 9th, 2008
EAST TAYLOR, PENNSYLVANIA - An East Taylor, Cambria County, police officer shot herself in the leg yesterday.
Cathy Jo Foust, 42, of Johnstown, was loading her service pistol in the East Taylor police station a little before 5 p.m. when it accidentally discharged, wounding her in the left leg. Appeared Here
Huntingdon Pennsylvania State Prison Employee Mark Alan Frehn Charged With Smuggling Heroin And Marijuana
June 8th, 2008
HUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA - A kitchen employee at the state prison in Huntingdon is jailed on charges that he possessed heroin and marijuana that he allegedly planned to smuggle to an inmate.
Twenty-one-year-old Mark Alan Frehn, of Three Springs, was arrested Wednesday in the parking lot of a shopping center in Smithfield Township.
Huntingdon County District Attorney George Zanic says Frehn was arrested as part of an undercover investigation into drug trafficking at the State Correctional Institution-Huntingdon. Frehn had just received three ounces of heroin and five pounds of marijuana from and undercover officer when he was arrested.
It’s not clear if he has an attorney.
Zanic says investigators expect to make more arrests soon. Appeared Here
Pennsylvania Authorities Search For 3 Year Old By Who Was With His Mom
June 8th, 2008
READING, PENNSYLVANIA - State police at Reading say a helicopter was brought in to search for a 3-year-old boy reported missing.
But it turns out that the boy reported missing Saturday afternoon had really gone with his mother and the father didn’t notice.
In addition to the helicopter brought in from Harrisburg, several volunteer fire companies helped search for the boy, who was reported missing from Union Township, Berks County.
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Carnegie Museum Of Art Security Guard Timur Serebrykov Arrested, Charged With Destroying $1.2 Million Painting He Didn’t Like
June 8th, 2008
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA — A former guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art has been charged with vandalizing a million-dollar painting he apparently didn’t like, damaging it beyond repair.
The museum’s surveillance camera caught the vandalism on May 16, police said Thursday.
Timur Serebrykov, 27, of Pittsburgh, is accused of defacing “Night Sky #12″ by Latvian-born Vija Celmins. He is to be formally arraigned on a charge of institutional vandalism in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on July 29.
The 31-by-37 1/2-inch oil-on-canvas painting of a black starlit night had a large vertical gouge in the middle, damaging it beyond repair, according to a police affidavit. The painting was valued at $1.2 million, authorities said.
Court documents indicate the suspect used a key or other implement to damage the painting because he disliked it.
Museum spokeswoman Betsy Momich would not comment beyond confirming that a piece of art was vandalized and a suspect was arrested.
Read MoreFired Munhall Pennsylvania Foot Fetish Police Officer Michael J. Curtin To Stand Trial For Child Molestation, Corruption Of Minors, Giving Alcohol To Minors, And Criminal Solicitation
June 5th, 2008
MUNHALL, PENNSYLVANIA - A fired Munhall police officer who admitted he had a foot fetish will stand trial on multiple counts of indecent assault, corruption of minors, giving alcohol to minors and criminal solicitation.
At a preliminary hearing before District Judge Ross Cioppa yesterday, four teenagers testified that Michael J. Curtin gave them alcohol, and two said he touched them inappropriately.
Two girls testified that Mr. Curtin contacted them on MySpace.com and offered them $1,000 to allow him to suck and lick their toes. He also told one girl that he wanted to have sex with her.
Mr. Curtin was fired from the Munhall Police Department in February. He was arrested May 1. Appeared Here
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Radio Host Gets The Boot - Sorry Senator Ted Kennedy Got Brain Tumor, Hoped The Killer Kennedy Would Live Long Enough To Be Assassinated
May 31st, 2008
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - A highly-rated, but highly controversial sports talk show host in Pittsburgh has been taken off the air - possibly for good - for a comment about Sen. Edward Kennedy’s cancerous brain tumor.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Mark Madden has been permanently removed from the air from ESPN Radio in Pittsburgh. A spokesman for the network in Bristol, Connecticut, would only tell CBS TV station KDKA that Madden has been taken off the air.
Madden told listeners last Wednesday that, “I’m very disappointed to hear that Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is near death because of a brain tumor. I always hoped Sen. Kennedy would live long enough to be assassinated.”
ESPN said Madden’s comment about Sen. Kennedy was inappropriate and uncalled for.
According to the paper, Madden apologized during his show about two hours after making the comment. He was on the air Thursday, but gone by Friday.
Read MoreFormer Pennsylvania State Trooper Richard Kenner Receives Less Than A Slap On The Wrist From Clinton County Judge Michael Williamson For Raping Woman
May 30th, 2008
LOCK HAVEN, PENNSYLVANIA - A former state trooper who had been charged with raping a female acquaintance pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors and was sentenced to 10 years probation the day before his trial.
Richard Keener, 40, of Bellefonte, pleaded guilty Wednesday to simple assault, unlawful restraint, indecent assault and disorderly conduct, the Clinton County Court Administrator’s office said. Judge J. Michael Williamson also ordered Keener to pay a $1,000 fine and have no contact with the woman.
The plea deal allowed Keener to avoid a trial scheduled to start Thursday.
“I lost my job and my career,” Keener said in court. “I’m in bankruptcy. … This is more than a reasonable sentence.”
He asked forgiveness from his family and the woman, who was in the courtroom. “I’m sorry for anything that caused you harm,” he said.
Read MorePhiladelphia Pennsylvania Police Officers Sheldon Fitzgerald And Howard Hill III Charged After Beating Painter, Falsifying Documents
May 27th, 2008
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - Philadelphia prosecutors have announced charges against two police officers accused of beating a man they caught painting graffiti.
District Attorney Lynne Abraham said Officers Sheldon Fitzgerald and Howard Hill III also are charged with falsifying documents to make it appear they had not been at the location of the incident, The Philadelphia Enquirer reported Tuesday.
Abraham said Fitzgerald and Hill allegedly came upon David Vernitsky, 36, Aug. 26, 2007, while he was spray-painting graffiti on a wall belonging to a friend. The officers chased the suspect down when he fled and subsequently beat and handcuffed him, the district attorney said. Abraham said Vernitsky was thrown into the back of the officers’ car, but was released when no outstanding warrants were found in his name.
No charges were ever brought against Vernitsky.
Abraham said the two officers have been suspended without pay and will be fired. Appeared Here
Pennsylvania Amish Tell State Where To Go Over School’s Outhouse
May 26th, 2008
EBENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA - Members of a small Amish community in western Pennsylvania have to decide by tomorrow whether to challenge a state order over their school’s outhouses.
The school sits on Andy Swartzentruber’s farm 70 miles east of Pittsburgh. A state judge has ruled that he and the school are in violation of the state sewage disposal law.
The community is 1 of the most conservative in the Amish Christian sect. And the practice has been to collect the waste in a bucket and dump it onto a field. But the county says they have to install a holding tank and hire a certified sewage hauler.
Swartzentruber is refusing to pay the fine of more than $500. During a break while tilling a field, he told The Associated Press he’d rather go to jail than violate his religious principles.
Read MoreDallas Pennyslvania State Prison Employye Ann Carroll Arrested, Charged With Having Sex With An Inmate
May 23rd, 2008
DALLAS, PENNSYLVANIA - A worker at the state prison at Dallas was arrested Thursday and accused of having a sexual relationship with an inmate.
According to court papers, Ann Carroll of Duryea was a library assistant at the prison when she began the relationship. She admitted having sex with the inmate in the prison library on a number of occasions.
The relationship was discovered when the inmate was calling Carroll’s cell phone which is listed on employee’s phone list. Appeared Here
Crazed Dickson City Pennsylvania Police And Lackawanna County Asst. District Attorney Corey Kolcharno Target Citizens Legally And Openly Carrying Guns, Arrest And Confiscate Gun From Federally Licensed Gun Dealer For Not Having (Not Required) Carry Permit
May 20th, 2008
DICKSON CITY, PENNSYLVANIA - But Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney Corey Kolcharno said he and police handled the situation as best they could given that one customer had not fully cooperated with police.
That customer, Richard Banks of Mountain Top, had his weapon confiscated for not carrying a concealed weapons permit and was initially arrested for disorderly conduct and failure to carry a license for the weapon.
Kolcharno said that might have been avoided had he known Banks was a federal firearms dealer, exempt from carrying a license for a concealed gun. No charges were filed against Banks.
“It wasn’t a rash decision,” said Kolcharno, who initially approved charges.
But an attorney representing Banks said law enforcement made “major mistakes” throughout the entire incident at the Dickson City restaurant.
Read More4 Of 19 Philadelphia Pennsylvania Police Officers Caught By News Media Brutally Beating Motorists Fired, 2 Suspended With Intent To Fire, 2 Others Suspended, One Sergeant Demoted, And 8 Get Less Than A Slap On The Wrist
May 19th, 2008
Another eight officers who had physical contact with the suspects will undergo additional training on the department’s policies concerning the use of force, Commissioner Charles Ramsey said. He said the police department made the disciplinary decisions after reviewing frames from enhanced tape of a video shot by a television news helicopter on May 5.
The video, shot by WTXF-TV, shows the suspects being pulled from their car on the side of the road and groups of officers kicking, punching and beating the men. A total of 19 officers — 18 city police and one transit officer — were involved.
Pennsylvania State Police Piss Away Public Funds Investigating Swastikas On Three Goats
May 15th, 2008
Police haven’t arrested anybody in the vandalism, which was reported Sunday morning. Police believe the goats were vandalized sometime in the overnight hours.
The damaged goats are owed by Janice Belin who has a small farm in Bellaria Township, about 80 miles north east of Pittsburgh.
Former Falls Pennsylvania Police Officer Matthew Shade Gets A Tiny Slap On The Wrist For Forgery And Theft
May 9th, 2008
FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA - A former Falls police officer who was convicted in March of forging his estranged wife’s name on a $5,000 insurance settlement check was sentenced Monday to five years of probation.
Matthew Shade, 29, of Bensalem apologized during a hearing in county court in Doylestown.
“I’m sorry for what happened,” he told Bucks County Judge Albert Cepparulo. “Believe me, you won’t see me again.”
Shade, a four-year veteran of the Falls force and a former Philadelphia cop, was found guilty of forgery and theft following a nonjury trial. Cepparulo found that Shade signed Lisa Shade’s name on a check in an attempt to hide the money from her.
The Shades are in the midst of a divorce and child custody battle. The check was the result of a claim the couple submitted for storm damage to their Forrest Avenue home.
Read MoreVisiting Knoxville Teen Shot And Killed By Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Police After Shooting Attacking Police Dog - Police: “Our Dog Got Shot So We Shot Him”
May 9th, 2008
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - A Knoxville man shot and killed a Pittsburgh police dog Tuesday before the canine’s handler returned fire, killing the man in what city police Chief Nate Harper called “an unfortunate” but justifiable action.
The shooting outraged and angered the family of the 19-year-old man, Justin Jackson. He was pronounced dead by a passing paramedic almost immediately after the shooting that occurred at 6:53 p.m. in front of the UPMC facility on Arlington Avenue on the border of Knoxville and Mt. Oliver.
Harper said the dog’s handler ordered the canine — a 6-year-old German shepherd named Aulf — to attack after Jackson pulled a gun from under his shirt. Both the officer, an eight-year-veteran Harper did not identify, and Jackson fired several shots, the chief said.
“They shot my son in the head. The officer told me, ‘Our dog got shot so we shot him.’ They killed my son over a dog,” said Donald James Jackson of the West End.
Read More13 Philadelphia Pennsylvania Police Officers Removed From The Streets After 15+ Police Officers Were Caught By News Video Brutally Beating Three Motorists
May 9th, 2008
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - Seven more police officers were taken off street duty Thursday as investigators look into the videotaped police beating of three shooting suspects during a traffic stop.
Thirteen of the estimated 15 officers on hand during the Monday incident have been taken off the streets as investigators pore over the television news footage, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a news conference Thursday.
The video shows officers kicking, punching and beating the men, who are all black. On his syndicated radio show Thursday, the Rev. Al Sharpton, compared it with the videotaped 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King by a group of white Los Angeles police officers.
“I’ve not seen anything like that since Rodney King, and it’s worse than Rodney King, and we cannot allow our community to be under siege,” Sharpton said. “We’ve got to stop this nonsense in our community, acting like you got to be a certain level black to be treated within the law.”
Read MoreNews Media Video Catches Half A Dozen Philadelphia Pennsylvania Police Officers Beating Three Motorists
May 7th, 2008
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - A half-dozen police officers kicked and beat three men pulled from a car during a traffic stop as a TV helicopter taped the confrontation.
The video, shot by WTXF-TV, shows three police cars stopping a car Monday, two days after a city officer was shot to death responding to a bank robbery.
The tape shows about a dozen officers gathering around the vehicle. About a half-dozen officers hold two of the men on the ground. Both are kicked repeatedly, while one is seen being punched; one also appears to be struck with a baton.
The third man is also kicked and ends up on the ground.
“On the surface it certainly does not look good in terms of the amount of force that was used,” Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said. “But we don’t want to rush to judgment.”
Read MoreFired Veteran Reading Pennsylvania Police Officer Bobby L. Moser Does The Right Thing And Kills Himself As Police Come To Arrested Him For Child Molestation And Child Pornography
April 30th, 2008
READING, PENNSYLVANIA - A former Reading patrolman wanted on charges he raped a girl repeatedly over 10 years and possessed child pornography was found dead in the basement of his Centre Township home Wednesday after a nearly four-hour standoff with police.
Bobby L. Moser, 47, of the 500 block of Plum Road joined the city police force June 25, 1990, and was terminated Oct. 6 after failing to report to work for several weeks, officials said.
Moser was in a basement bedroom of his home at 6 a.m. when troopers on a state police Special Emergency Response Team served an arrest warrant.
An unidentified adult female answered the front door and told troopers Moser was in the basement.
Troopers yelled to Moser that he was under arrest and for him to come out of the basement.
Read MoreOne Year Latter, Philadelphia Pennsylvania Sued Again Over Jail Overcrowding As Problem Worsens
April 29th, 2008
PHILADELPHIA. PENNSYLVANIA - A year after a federal judge issued a scathing order over conditions at Philadelphia’s crowded jails, the problem has only worsened, civil rights lawyers charge in a lawsuit filed Monday.
Three people are routinely held in two-bunk cells, leaving the third to sleep in a blue, plastic shell on the floor, inches from the toilet, they said. The overcrowding jeopardizes medical care and other basic needs of the record 9,300 people now in city custody, the lawsuit alleges.
“Our clients are being detained in unconstitutional conditions, and we think the court’s intervention is necessary to get the problems resolved,” lawyer Jonathan Feinberg said Monday.
Feinberg works with University of Pennsylvania law professor David Rudovsky, who filed a similar lawsuit last year as well as a 1971 complaint that led to court oversight of Philadelphia jails through 2001.
Read MoreFormer Falls Township Pennsylvania Police Chief Jason Kizer Faces 48 Years In State Prison For Payroll Scheme
April 28th, 2008
FALLS TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA — A former Wyoming County police chief could face up to 48 years in state prison for receiving compensation from Falls Township while moonlighting during his shifts as a police officer in several other municipalities outside the county.
Jason Kizer, 34, of Rundle Street, Scranton, was charged April 11 with two counts of theft by deception and two counts of forgery and tampering with public records. The charges are related to time sheets he signed for hours he did not actually work and for police reports he submitted on incidents he allegedly did not investigate, the criminal complaint states.
Wyoming County District Attorney George Skumanick Jr. said Mr. Kizer could face up to 20 years in prison just for the two forgery charges.
On Aug. 22, Mr. Kizer submitted a letter of resignation to the township, around the same time township supervisors contacted Wyoming County Chief Detective David Ide. Falls Township now has three part-time officers, with Robert Reimiller as the acting chief.
Read MoreMan Awarded Almost $400,000 After being Hit By Hollidaysburg Pennsylvania Police Patrol Car Driven By Officer Michael J. Stayer
April 28th, 2008
HOLLIDAYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA — An Altoona man has received almost $400,000 for injuries he suffered two years ago when he was struck by a city police cruiser.
Arthur L. Vincent was walking across 17th Street at Margaret Avenue April 6, 2006, when a cruiser pulled onto 17th Street and struck and seriously injured him.
The cruiser was driven by officer Michael J. Stayer.
Vincent suffered a broken shoulder and injuries to his neck, back and spine, said his attorney, Todd Berkey of Pittsburgh, who works for Edgar Snyder & Associates LLC.
Vincent did not want to discuss the settlement of the civil action that was filed in Blair County in March.
Berkey also did not want to release the settlement, but he said state law caps the figure that an individual can receive from a municipality at $500,000.
Read MoreFormer Mt. Pleasant Pennsylvania Police Officer Ryan C. Andrews Charged With Child Molestation
April 28th, 2008
MT. PLEASANT, PENNSYLVANIA - A former Mt. Pleasant police officer was charged Wednesday with indecent assault, accused of kissing and groping a preteen girl.
Ryan C. Andrews, 35, of 108 Ashton Drive, Mt. Pleasant, was arraigned before District Judge J. Bruce King in Scottdale on one count each of indecent assault and reckless endangerment, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
According to the allegations, the incidents occurred April 13 to 17, 2007, at Andrews’ home, when the victim, a girl younger than 13, was staying there, according to the Westmoreland County Detectives Bureau.
According to court papers, Andrews dared the girl to remove her clothes and run around naked during a game of “truth or dare.”
He called it “nakey time,” police reported.
As the girl performed the dare, Andrews attempted to “pull her in front of him”; later, when the two were alone, Andrews dared the victim to remove her shirt, which she did, according to court papers.
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