Paul Peirce stories, Page 48
Police: Two girls accused of breaking into cars after escape from Derry Twp. group home
Two teenage girls who escaped from a group home in Derry Township last week are being held in Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center after their arrests for allegedly breaking into multiple cars in an apartment complex, state police reported. The girls, ages 14- and 16-years-old, escaped late Monday from Adelphoi...
Scouts — both boys and girls — clash at Pinewood Derby in IrwinVideo
Cub Scout Pack 293 leader Daryl Muzy admits technology has improved significantly in the 50-year history of the North Huntingdon-area Cub Scout pack’s annual pinewood derby race. Instead of eyeballing the finish line, as was once done by the scoutmasters, the speedy wooden cars now cross a laser beam that...
Federal authorities join East Huntingdon gas tanker explosion probeVideo
Federal investigators have joined the probe of a fuel tanker explosion Friday that leveled an East Huntingdon tanker truck garage and sent three workers to a Pittsburgh hospital, including one with critical burns. Officials from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and U.S. Department of Transportation gathered Saturday...
Cops: Missing Ruffsdale girl, 13, found safe
A 13-year-old Ruffsdale girl who went missing this week was found safe late Friday, state police said. Troopers issued an alert early Friday saying Lainey Ucman had not been seen since 9 p.m. Thursday in the area of Story Frye Road in South Huntingdon. Late Friday, state police in Belle...
Greensburg police ask for help identifying burglary suspect
Greensburg police are asking the public’s help identifying a suspect in a burglary Saturday in the city’s Northmont area. An unknown suspect reportedly burglarized a residence during the morning hours and fled in a Subaru SUV. Police described the burglar as a white male about 5 feet 5 inches tall...
Penn Township man charged with new stalking count after ex finds tracking device on her car
A Penn Township man was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on accusations he stalked his ex-girlfriend for months after their breakup and damaged her new boyfriend’s truck. Instead, the hearing was postponed after the woman discovered a tracking device hidden inside her car. Charged in October with retaliation against...
Cops: Rostraver restaurant owner alleges assault by live-in boyfriend
The live-in boyfriend of 84 Lumber founder Joe Hardy’s ex-wife was arrested last week for allegedly assaulting the woman inside her Rostraver restaurant, police said. Braxton M. Stedman, 36, was charged by township police with making terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment by township police following an altercation that began...
1 killed in crash on Route 40 in Fayette County
The Fayette County Coroner’s and state police in Uniontown are continuing to investigate a fatal crash this morning along Route 40 in Henry Clay Township. Authorities said one person was killed in the crash that occurred about 8 a.m. between Dinner Bell-Ohiopyle and Flat Rocks roads involving a tractor-trailer and...
Cops: Fayette County man ordered to prison without bail after threatening district judge
A Fayette County man is accused of threatening a district judge following his arrest last week for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend and the family cat. David Lee Kovach, 29, of Smock, was charged by state police in Uniontown with disorderly conduct, harassment and making terroristic threats toward South Union District...
Greensburg bicycle theft victim helps police ID suspects
A Greensburg theft victim’s personal sleuthing after his electric bicycle disappeared off a downtown street the day after Christmas resulted in criminal charges being filed against a city man this week. Dalton J. Shepard, 20, was charged with receiving stolen property by city police Lt. Rob Jones in connection with...
Police seek man accused of removing welder, equipment from Unity store
State police in Greensburg are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who entered a farm supply store in Unity and left without paying for several hundred dollars worth of welding equipment. Troopers said the theft occurred Dec. 28 when a white male, wearing a denim shirt and...
Rostraver West Newton paramedic Matthew Smelser laid to rest in MonongahelaVideo
More than 300 emergency medical technicians, paramedics, firefighters and police officers gathered under a steady rain Friday in Monongahela to honor Matthew C. Smelser. They stood shoulder to shoulder and stretched two blocks down Chess Street for a finale salute to the Rostraver West Newton paramedic supervisor who was killed...
Hempfield man charged with raping 2 girls he met via social mediaVideo
A 20-year-old Hempfield man was arrested Thursday on accusations that he raped two girls, ages 11 and 13, whom he met through a social media app. “They are trying to put me in jail for a long time for something I did not know. They were lying about their ages,”...
Dog rescued in South Greensburg mobile-home fireVideo
Firefighters rescued a dog in a fire that destroyed a mobile home Thursday in South Greensburg. The fire was reported at 12:10 p.m. in a mobile home that is located in an alley behind the 1500 block of Broad Street. “The doors were locked when we got here, so we...
Hempfield woman accused of tossing hot coffee on cop now charged with assaulting prison guardVideo
A Hempfield woman currently in the Westmoreland County Prison on charges that she threw a cup of hot coffee on a state trooper is now accused of spitting on a prison guard. Sonya R. Connors, 52, is accused of becoming “combative and verbally abusive” with a female prison guard on...
Police charge Fayette County woman in starvation deaths of 2 cats, dog
After finding two cats and a dog dead inside her former Washington County apartment, state police on Wednesday charged a 22-year-old woman with multiple counts of animal cruelty and neglect. Dominique Lynn Cronin abandoned the animals in her former apartment in Daisytown about a month ago when she moved to...
Central Michigan professor named dean at Seton Hill’s School of Business
Seton Hill University has named Debasish Chakraborty, a professor of economics at Central Michigan University, as dean of the Greensburg university’s School of Business. University President Mary C. Finger announced Chakraborty’s appointment Wednesday and said he will begin his tenure on March 16. Chakraborty’s appointment comes as Paul Mahady, former...
Cops: Hempfield woman threw hot coffee on trooper at Youngwood restaurant
A Hempfield woman is in the county prison because she threw a cup of hot coffee on a state trooper, according to police. Sonya R. Connors, 52, was arraigned before District Judge Tony Bompiani on charges of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, harassment, resisting arrest, retail theft and simple assault after...
Funeral services announced for Rostraver West Newton paramedic killed on I-70
A Rostraver West Newton Emergency Services paramedic supervisor who was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer along Interstate 70will be laid to rest Friday in Monongahela Cemetery. Funeral arrangements were announced for Matthew C. Smelser, 43, of Carroll Township, by Marshall Marra Funeral Home, 216 Chess St., Monongahela, where visitation...
Rostraver West Newton paramedic killed on I-70 remembered as dedicated, compassionateVideo
A 14-year-old Matthew Smelser showed up three decades ago for a youth emergency medical explorer program in Connellsville. Greg Cominsky, a longtime area paramedic, knew right away that he was destined for a career helping people. “Oh, Matt took an immediate interest in it. He was so eager, so dedicated...
Rostraver paramedic killed in crash that closed Interstate 70 near Smithton
A paramedic responding to a crash early Sunday on Interstate 70 near the Smithton exit was struck by a vehicle and killed, the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office confirmed. The paramedic from Rostraver-West Newton Emergency Medical Services was identified on the ambulance service’s Facebook page Sunday afternoon as Matt C. Smelser,...
Terrelle Pryor files court petition asking to keep firearm permit after arrest
Former NFL player and Jeannette native Terrelle Pryor doesn’t want to surrender his permit to carry a concealed firearm, which was issued in Westmoreland County. On Friday, Pryor’s attorney, Stephen Colafella of Beaver County, asked for a hearing to challenge Sheriff Jonathan Held’s order revoking a concealed carry firearm permit....
Police seek pair in theft at Hempfield Best BuyVideo
State police in Greensburg are asking the public’s help identifying two suspects in the recent theft of a video gaming device and numerous accessories from the Best Buy store in Hempfield Township. Trooper Steve Limani said the thefts of a Nintendo Switch Lite gaming system, a speaker, and a gaming...
Troopers: Drugs smuggled into SCI-Fayette may have contributed to inmate’s death
Investigators believe drugs smuggled into a state prison in Fayette County contributed to the death of an inmate there who was serving a life sentence for killing a county fair queen in 2004. Joseph Gacha, 42, was pronounced dead at SCI Fayette in La Belle at 9:39 p.m. Dec. 30...
Monessen police file multiple charges against man who barricaded himself in home
Monessen Police filed charges Thursday against a 47-year-old man who was involved in a 10-hour New Year’s Eve standoff at his home after city police attempted to serve him with a protection from abuse order. Jason G. Johnson was taken into custody 12:45 a.m. Jan. 1 by the state police...
