Paul Peirce stories, Page 55
Jeannette schools to offer counseling to students, staff in wake of fatal shooting
As classes resume in Jeannette City School District on Monday after a fatal shooting outside McKee Stadium during a high school football game Friday, a number of neighboring schools have extended a hand to help any Jeannette students who need help coping with the traumatic incident. Jeannette Superintendent Matthew W....
Inmate accused of smuggling Suboxone, assault at SCI Somerset
A 32-year-old inmate at state prison in Somerset already serving a life sentence for murder was charged by state police with assaulting a corrections officer who broke up an alleged drug smuggling attempt in the prison’s visitation area last month. Marcus L. Graham, 32, formerly of Reading, Berks County, has...
Jeannette residents say they are not worried about McKee Stadium securityVideo
Twelve hours after a 48-year-old Jeannette man was shot and killed outside Jeannette’s McKee Stadium near the end of a high school football game Friday, the 82-year-old athletic facility along Park Street had only a few walkers passing by Saturday morning and the occasional motorist headed out for weekend errands....
Plaque, wall dedicated to late Greensburg Fire Chief J. Edward Hutchinson
Longtime Greensburg Aerobics Center General Manager Marianne Bucci Anzovino has no hesitation telling anyone within earshot that without late city fire chief J. Edward “Hutch” Hutchinson, the aerobics center at Lynch Field never would have been built. On Saturday, Hutchinson’s family, firefighters and aerobics center staff members gathered outside the...
Uniontown man ordered to stand trial in drowning death of East Huntingdon infant
A man accused of drowning an 11-month-old girl in East Huntingdon July 13 told state troopers in a jailhouse interview that “he freaked out” and fled to Ohio after he was unable to revive the infant when she became unresponsive. Derrick “Hector” A. Bass, 29, of Uniontown was ordered to...
Penn Township doctor gets 4 years in prison for illegal opioid distribution
A Westmoreland County physician who was convicted in January by a federal jury of illegally distributing opioids at his practices in West Virginia was sentenced this week to four years in prison. Dr. Felix Brizuela, Jr., 58, of Penn Township, was found guilty of 15 counts of distribution of controlled...
Cops: Unity woman coerced teen into making false sexual assault claim
A Unity woman is accused by state police with coercing a teenage boy to make a false sexual assault complaint. Christina D. Hall, 38, of the village of Hostetter, is charged with making false reports of child abuse and corruption of minors by state police in Greensburg. Trooper James McKenzie...
Teen accused in Export shooting received community service in prior case
A Murrysville teenager accused of shooting of a man in Export was supposed to be at a community service detail as part of his probation for a prior drug-related charge. As Joseph Pometto, a private attorney for Tyler Palandro, 18, of Murrysville, argued at a hearing Tuesday that his client...
Cops: Good Samaritan assisted domestic violence victim at Lynch Field in Greensburg
A Good Samaritan at Greensburg’s Lynch Field helped a woman Thursday after she was choked and beaten by her boyfriend in a pavilion, according to city police. Chad T. Abbott, 25, who has recently lived in Burgettstown, Washington County, was arrested on charges of simple assault, strangulation, terroristic threats, false...
Western Pennsylvania first responders move south ahead of Hurricane Dorian
As Hurricane Dorian barrels toward Florida, some Western Pennsylvania first responders are already headed south to lend a hand. Specialized ambulance units and paramedics from Fayette Emergency Medical Service, headquartered in Connellsville, and Murrysville Medic One left at 8 a.m. Friday to head to a staging area in Georgia. Florida...
Delmont man accused of assaulting woman
A 39-year-old Delmont man was arrested Thursday on charges of assaulting a woman inside his home and obstructing officers attempting to investigate the incident, police said. Ian T. Morelli was arraigned before District Judge Helen Kistler on charges of obstruction of law enforcement, simple assault, harassment, disorderly conduct and possession...
PUC: Improvements planned at Washington County railroad crossing after 2018 crash, acid spill
A series of flashing warning lights and a warning bell will be installed at a railroad crossing in Centerville, Washington County, where a freight train collided with a tractor-trailer carrying hydrochloric acid last year causing several injuries and an evacuation, according to the state Public Utility Commission. The commission voted...
Police: Ruffs Dale man accused in sex crimes used fire department’s credit card to fuel up
A Ruffs Dale man awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulting a teenage girl over several months last year was accused by state police this week of using an area fire department’s credit card to buy $2,627 in gas for his personal vehicle. Derek A. Ruth, 27, who was arrested...
Cops: Suspected meth lab discovered in Indiana home
A 33-year-old Indiana woman has been charged after state police served a search warrant at her home and discovered a suspected “one-pot” meth lab inside, according to state police in Indiana. Police reported the meth lab was discovered at a residence along South 12th Street, where troopers and officers with...
5 charged in connection with Export shootingVideo
Five people, including a New Alexandria teen, were arrested by state police in connection with the Sunday shooting of a Monroeville man during an altercation and vehicle chase through Export. The 27-year-old victim was shot once in the left shoulder and another shot “grazed” off his scalp, Trooper Daniel Pickard...
Man reportedly pulled from water after falling into Mill Creek, near Ligonier, dispatchers say
Multiple agencies were responding to a report of a man who fell into Mill Creek in Ligonier Township on Monday afternoon, according to Westmoreland County Dispatch reports. Dispatchers reported the incident occurred about 3:21 p.m. along Mill Road near the village of Waterford. The man reportedly was pulled from water...
Greensburg Police warn of bogus door-to-door charity solicitation scheme
Greensburg Police are warning residents of a bogus door-to-door charity solicitation scheme. On Sunday, officers cited Wade Taro, 27, of Troy, Ohio, for violating the city’s peddling and solicitation ordinance that requires any vendor soliciting door-to-door possess a city solicitation permit. He was also charged before District Judge Chris Flanigan...
Former Mt. Pleasant, South Greensburg cop accused of oppression, retaliation
Police say a former Mt. Pleasant police patrolman conducted an illegal traffic stop to berate an ex-coworker who allegedly told his bosses that he drank alcohol before reporting to work. According to court documents, Trevor J. Ely, 29, of Greensburg, who also worked then as a part-time patrolman in South...
Spill from Elizabeth Township fracking site under investigation
The state Department of Environmental Protection and Elizabeth Township Police are investigating after a tanker truck went over an embankment Thursday and spilled rainwater from a nearby fracking well containment pad. A portion of the 4,650-gallon load spilled near a tributary of the Youghiogheny River about 9:30 p.m. in the...
Coroner: Charleroi woman struck, killed by train in Washington County
The Washington County Coroner said a 49-year-old Charleroi woman has been identified as the pedestrian struck and killed by a train Tuesday. Coroner S. Timothy Warco said Lisa M. Lees was hit by a Norfolk Southern train as she crossed railroad tracks near 7th Street and Railroad Way in Charleroi...
Greensburg Salem school evacuated, Hempfield school loses powerVideo
Two area schools faced issues during the first week of school. Nicely Elementary School in the Greensburg Salem School District was evacuated at 1 p.m. Thursday after an electrical motor inside overheated and began smoking, according to school officials. “There was no fire. There wasn’t a whole lot of smoke,...
Cops: Co-owner of Scottdale restaurant accused of stalking, harassment
One of the owners of Wise’s Restaurant, a well-known Scottdale eatery, was charged Tuesday by borough police with stalking and disorderly conduct in the alleged harassment of employees and causing of disruptions at the business since June. James R. Wise, 61, of Oakdale was arraigned on eight counts each of...
FBI looking for child exploitation victims of former Cranberry man
Authorities are asking for the public’s help identifying potential victims of Robert D. Caesar, a former Butler County resident awaiting trial for allegedly abusing underage children. Caesar, 56, most recently of Oxford, in Chester County, was charged by federal indictment in November with production, receipt and possession of child pornography...
GoFundMe accounts created for 20-year-old Crabtree man severely beaten with baseball bat
Collision Shoppe owner Jason Mignogna says he was stunned Monday after learning that Justin Hayden, a worker at his Unity auto repair shop, was critically injured after being beaten outside his home in Crabtree. “In today’s world, you really don’t know what to initially think, but anyone who has ever...
FBI: Reports of ‘underaged’ massage parlor workers led to probe linked to Western Pa.
A federal investigation that culminated in the arrest of a Florida man accused of operating a human trafficking ring through massage parlors from the Sunshine State to Pennsylvania, including five in Western Pennsylvania, began in 2017 after complaints made to a national hotline, according to court documents. David C. Williams,...
