Chuck Biedka stories, Page 2
Freeport man involved in Brackenridge crash dies
A man involved in a two-vehicle crash in Brackenridge on Dec. 20 has died. Shane Conklin, 31, of Freeport died Jan. 1 in UPMC Presbyterian hospital, Pittsburgh, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. The car he was driving collided with a van carrying a driver and two passengers...
3 hurt near Route 28 Exit 14 off-ramp near Tarentum
Three people were injured Friday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash on Bull Creek Road at Route 28’s Exit 14 southbound ramp near the Tarentum-Fawn line. The crash happened around 2 p.m. and involved a pickup and sport utility vehicle. State police did not identify those injured, but said they were...
Fire destroys couple’s Allegheny Township home, kills family dogVideo
Fire tore through a newlywed couple’s Allegheny Township home Friday morning, destroying all of their wedding gifts and other belongings and killing their beloved 1-year-old dog. “All of our wedding presents, everything, was inside the house,” Jason Femc, 38, said as he stood outside the South Glosser Hill Road home...
Man injured in 2-car East Deer wreck
A man was injured Monday afternoon in a two-car wreck in East Deer, police said. East Deer police Chief John Manchini said a black Impala followed by another car crossed the New Kensington Bridge into East Deer at about 1 p.m. Monday. For an unknown reason, the Impala’s driver stopped...
Butler man pleads guilty in child sex assault murder, faces 30 to 60 years
A 22-year-old Butler man pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy so severely that the child died. In a plea bargain, Keith Jordan Lambing pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, aggravated assault and child endangerment in the 2017 case. The plea agreement calls for a sentence of 30 to 60...
Smoke alarm helps mother, young son escape fire in Arnold
A smoke alarm helped a woman and her 4-year-old son safely escape a fire that heavily damaged a two-story duplex in Arnold on Monday afternoon. The fire in the 2000 block of Proctor Alley was reported around 2 p.m. Firefighters had it put out within about 30 minutes. Kayla Pirozzi...
Freeport Chief Jeff Swiklinski moving to Buffalo Township police force
One of the early advocates for Alle-Kiski Valley police surveillance cameras is moving from leading Freeport police to a neighboring force. Jeff Swiklinski, 53, of Buffalo Township, who was chief of the Freeport Police Department for 19 of his 32-year career with the force, will become a Buffalo Township patrolman...
Leechburg police camera fundraiser gets slow startVideo
A fundraiser to help buy surveillance cameras for Leechburg police is starting slow, but its planners are confident food sales will pickup. Last summer, Leechburg businesses donated about $4,000 toward a goal of installing DVR equipment at the police station and then connect it to intersection cameras when money is...
Fire spreads to 3 East Deer homes after pickup crashes into gas meter
An East Deer couple and four children narrowly escaped a roaring, natural gas-fueled blaze that started Friday morning when a pickup crashed into a gas meter in front of their home. Aaron Ciccanti and fiancée Andrea Small got the children, ages 4 to 8, to safety by smashing out a...
Winfield man accused of threatening magistrate, judge, Buffalo Township supervisor
A Winfield man with a history of drunken driving is accused of threatening a Saxonburg district magistrate, a Butler County judge and a Buffalo Township supervisor in different phone messages because he was angry with the latest charges filed against him. Frederick William Buehler, 61, made six threatening phone calls...
Paws Across Pittsburgh seeks people to adopt handicapped dogs
Diane Raible of White Oak agreed last fall to temporarily foster a small dog that was paralyzed from the waist down after being struck by a car. It didn’t take long for Raible to fall in love with the 20-pound spaniel mix Dolly, who uses a wheeled cart to get...
Hoagie fundraiser part of Leechburg police surveillance camera plans
Hoagies will play a key role in Leechburg’s police security plans. Businesses and residents have donated about $4,000 since June to the plan to add surveillance cameras at some intersections. Chief Jason Schaeffer said the borough needs an additional $3,000. So Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market and its food fundraiser is stepping...
Brackenridge man accused of taking car on Christmas Eve
Harrison police said they used surveillance camera footage, license plate readers and help from other departments to track down a Brackenridge man suspected of stealing a car on Christmas Eve. Terry Alan Montgomery, 51, is accused of taking a 2008 Hyundai Accent that was parked in the 2000 block of...
Police seek driver who crashed into Springdale Township garage
Springdale Township police are investigating a weekend hit-and-run crash that heavily damaged a garage off Riddle Run Road. Police said an unknown motorist driving a burgundy or brown Buick Lucerne at a high speed crashed through the side of the large garage around 1 a.m. Saturday. A surveillance camera captured...
Harrison police arrest 3 teens suspected in car, purse thefts
A New Kensington-area teen is accused of throwing an unloaded gun at police as they pursued him and two other teens in connection with the theft of a purse last week in Harrison. That didn’t stop police from arresting the teens on Dec. 17, a day after police said they...
New Ken-Arnold student left on W.L. Roenigk bus, 2nd pupil in 10 days
A New Kensington-Arnold School District special needs student was left alone on a W.L. Roenigk school bus at the Clairview School in Greensburg on Friday, school and bus company officials said. The driver was immediately fired, a Roenigk official said. It was the second time in 10 days that a...
Woman, children injured in Brackenridge head-on collision, other driver’s condition unknownVideo
A woman and two elementary-age children were taken to a hospital for treatment after a car and a minivan collided head-on Friday in Brackenridge, police said. It’s unclear if the other driver was also taken for treatment of his injuries. The wreck happened about 1 p.m. on Freeport Road near...
At least 1 hurt in 2-car wreck along Freeport Road in New KensingtonVideo
A two-car crash along Freeport Road in New Kensington sent one woman to an area hospital Tuesday. City police said her infant accompanied her in the ambulance. The wreck appears to have happened when a white rental car hit the rear of a black Ford Taurus at about 10:30 a.m.,...
3 cars damaged in crashes on icy stretch of Route 910 in HarmarVideo
Two vehicles were heavily damaged Friday morning in a head-on crash on an icy stretch of Route 910 in Harmar, but the two drivers involved managed to walk away unhurt, Harmar police said. Also damaged in the crash was an unoccupied third vehicle that had been disabled on the side...
Arnold high-rise residents like police foot patrols through buildingsVideo
The residents of Arnold Towers and the neighboring Arnold Manor don’t have to wait for an emergency to get a visit from police. For about a year, Arnold officers have checked high-rise lobbies, public areas and stairwells of both low-income high-rises along Horne Boulevard. On Thursday, three Arnold officers, including...
Ex-Applewold councilman sentenced to 4 to 8 years for child sex assault
A former Applewold councilman and East Franklin fire chief convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy two years ago in Kittanning was sentenced Thursday to up to 8 years in prison. Mark Alan Feeney, 56, will serve 4 to 8 years in state prison. Armstrong County Judge James Panchik ordered...
2 plead guilty in Pittsburgh court to being associated with cross-country drug conspiracy
Two people allegedly associated with a cross-country drug conspiracy pleaded guilty to charges this week in federal court in Pittsburgh. Eugene Reddick, 36, of Clairton, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. Kaylin Lightfoot-Homa, 26, of Penn Hills, pleaded guilty to maintaining...
Livestock saved from Buffalo Township mobile home fireVideo
Two pigs, several goats and a few chickens were saved from a fire Wednesday at a mobile home that had been converted into a shelter for livestock on Coal Hollow Road in Buffalo Township. At least 15 chickens were unaccounted for and feared trapped inside the mobile home, firefighters and...
Giving spirit abounds in Harmar’s ‘Shop with a Cop’ event
About 80 children from Harmar participated Saturday in the third annual “Shop with a Cop” event organized by township police. Each child had about $100 to spend, courtesy of the Target store in Harmar. Many of the children thought of others before themselves. “Many of them bought things for other...
Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to federal drug charge involving GBK gang
A Pittsburgh man associated with the GBK street gang pleaded guilty in Pittsburgh federal court to selling or distributing drugs in the Greenway Projects in the Pittsburgh’s West End. On Monday, Allen Green, 40, of Pittsburgh withdrew a not guilty plea and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to...
