Justin Vellucci stories, Page 41
Police: Pittsburgh cop injured when hit by drunken driver
A Pittsburgh police officer was injured early Tuesday when police said a drunken driver hit her with his car, almost pinning the officer against her marked vehicle. Police filed 17 charges against Charles Cary, 23, of Orange Beach, Ala., in connection with the incident, including aggravated assault, aggravated assault by...
Brackenridge police chief was ‘ambushed’ by his killer, investigators say
Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire was “ambushed” and shot dead while searching the borough’s Third Avenue for a fugitive late Monday afternoon, Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns said Tuesday. The fugitive — Aaron Lamont Swan Jr., 28, of Duquesne — later used a gun that had been modified to...
Could ‘stop, question and frisk’ drive down gun violence in Pittsburgh?
Increased gun violence in Pittsburgh has spurred city officials and residents to look for ways to combat the problem. A Carnegie Mellon University criminologist is recommending an approach that has generated controversy and debate elsewhere. Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon, is calling for...
Mt. Washington struggles with rise in car break-ins
After someone broke into Emily Shaheen’s Chevrolet Spark outside her Mt. Washington apartment around Thanksgiving, the marketing director and Point Park University alumnus didn’t fret much. After all, they mostly just scored some loose change. “I didn’t even bother going to the police because there was nothing they were going...
Pedestrian identified who was killed by dump truck in Hazelwood
The woman who was killed Wednesday when a dump truck hit her as she crossed a road in Hazelwood has been identified. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Cynthia Haskell, 73, of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh police, EMS and fire crews responded to the accident in the 5000...
Policy change will send Pittsburgh firefighters to all shooting scenes in city
Pittsburgh Public Safety is looking to get more hands on deck when a shooting takes place in the city. Effective Monday morning, Pittsburgh firefighters will respond, along with police and EMS, to all crime scenes involving gunshot wounds, Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt told the Tribune-Review. Previously, firefighters only responded...
Winter weather prompts early Holiday Market closure in Pittsburgh
If you’re looking to do more last-minute Christmas shopping, you might have one less day to visit the Peoples Gas Holiday Market. The popular Downtown market, originally slated to be open in Market Square through Christmas Eve, will shut down a day early to avoid the harsh winter weather Pittsburgh...
Environmental group finds high benzene levels at homes near U.S. Steel plants in Mon Valley
Dave Meckel’s Glassport home is Ground Zero for air pollution in the Mon Valley. Sitting on a quiet back road about 850 yards from U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works on the Monongahela River, the home accumulates its share of black, sooty particulate matter from the plant, as well as from U.S....
Pittsburgh police to survey residents in effort to improve community relations
Pittsburgh police in the city’s Zone 3 said they plan to use survey results to improve relations with residents. Starting Monday, police in Zone 3 will launch a trial of AXON My90, a program that uses brief surveys to allow community members to provide feedback on police interactions. “The anonymous...
9-year-old girl suffered near-fatal overdose on Braddock man’s heroin, police say
A Braddock man faces charges in connection with the near-fatal overdose of a 9-year-old girl. William Davis III, 45, is facing charges including aggravated assault, drug possession and endangering the welfare of children, court records show. The girl, who was found unresponsive in her bed on Nov. 28 by her...
Woman killed in Downtown Pittsburgh apartment building fire identified
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday identified the individual who died in a Downtown fire this week as 80-year-old Barbara Johnson. Police said Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene, where a five-alarm fire consumed the 12th floor of The Roosevelt Building at Penn Avenue and Sixth Street....
Pittsburgh police sergeant graduates from FBI academy
Pittsburgh Police Sgt. Carla Kearns has graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., a program that fewer than 1% of officers in the U.S. have the opportunity to attend, police announced Wednesday. The academy offers 10 weeks of advanced communication, leadership, and fitness training, police said. Typically, officers...
Former Elizabeth Borough police chief pleads guilty to stealing drug evidence for personal use
A former Elizabeth Borough police chief who admitted to stealing thousands of bags of heroin from his department’s evidence room pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of theft of government property, U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung said Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney’s office said Timothy L. Butler Jr., 45,...
Former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate accused of threatening man with shotgun
A former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate and retired police officer is facing charges after police said he threatened a man with a shotgun. Anthony “Tony” Moreno, 54, the Republican nominee for mayor in 2021, called Pittsburgh police Monday to report that a man was trying to remove dogs from a McClure...
Man killed, another injured after car crashes into Clairton house
A Duquesne man died and another was injured when a car crashed into a house in Clairton early Thursday. Allegheny County emergency dispatchers were notified of a one-car crash in the 500 block of North 8th Street at 3:11 a.m. First responders found a man unresponsive in the passenger seat,...
Brookline man suspected in Dormont bank robbery
A Brookline man is accused of robbing the Dollar Bank branch in Dormont on Wednesday. Allegheny County Police said Ahmed Ali Asiri, 26, faces charges of robbery by oral or written demand, theft by unlawful taking and making terroristic threats in connection with the robbery of the Liberty Avenue bank...
East Hills mother dies of injuries from shooting that killed her 4-year-old daughter
An East Hills woman died late Tuesday at a hospital, five days after being wounded in a Lincoln-Lemington shooting that killed her 4-year-old daughter. Temani Lewis, 21, had been scheduled to stand trial next month in connection with a separate shooting over the summer. The 4-year-old girl, Kaari Thompson, and...
Hundreds of new charges filed against Squirrel Hill man accused of hiding cameras in bathrooms
A Squirrel Hill man arrested last month for planting a hidden camera in a restroom at The Frick museum now faces a slew of additional charges for hiding the device and spying on restroom-users elsewhere. Todd Bueschen, 35, was charged Tuesday with eight counts of sexual abuse of children by...
Stowe fire chief punched firefighter during blaze, police say
A fire chief is facing charges after police say he punched a firefighter at a McKees Rocks blaze the two were battling. Stowe Fire Chief Matthew Chapman was charged Tuesday with simple assault and harassment in connection to the Sunday incident. Chapman was the first to arrive on scene and...
90-year-old man, left on Pittsburgh doorstep as newborn, meets the family he never knew
A 12-day-old baby boy left in a basket on a Garfield doorstep in 1932, has found his long-lost Pittsburgh family. Jim Scott wrote a “Christmas wish” to connect with his birth family in 2016. And for the past six years, he’s been putting together the pieces of what most of...
Mayor Ed Gainey takes gun violence concerns to social media after 4-year-old’s death
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey took his criticism of gun violence to social media Friday night, speaking directly to Pittsburghers via Twitter and Facebook livestreams the day after a 4-year-old girl was shot and killed in the city. “There is no reason a 4-year-old should have been murdered,” said Gainey, who...
Arrest made in August killing in North Braddock
Police have made an arrest in a fatal Aug. 14 shooting in North Braddock. Jamir Washington-Morgan, 20, was apprehended Friday in West Mifflin by the county sheriff’s fugitive squad and charged with criminal homicide, Allegheny County Police said. He is lodged in Allegheny County Jail, awaiting arraignment. North Braddock police...
Pitt students abused corpses in anatomy class, police say
Two University of Pittsburgh students are accused of inappropriately touching corpses in their anatomy class. Sonel Jimenez, 19, of Albrightsville, Carbon County, and Amay Gupta, 19, of Fremont, Calif., were charged Thursday with abusing a corpse in connection with the incident, which took place at Pitt’s Victoria Hall on Nov....
Teen charged in California-Kirkbride homicide also accused in funeral service shooting
A Pittsburgh teenager who police say opened fire on a Brighton Heights funeral service in late October has been charged in connection with a homicide that took place more than two months earlier. The Aug. 7 shooting in the city’s California-Kirkbride neighborhood left one man dead and three others injured....
Guns seized at Pittsburgh airport down from record levels, but still a problem, TSA says
Traffic is gradually returning to normal at Pittsburgh International Airport, but the number of firearms seized at the airport’s checkpoints doesn’t appear to be going back to pre-pandemic levels. The Transportation Security Administration wants to keep it that way. On Wednesday, agency officials held a news conference at the airport...
