Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 79
Jury deadlocked, mistrial declared in rape and sexual assault trial of Allegheny Township man
A mistrial was declared Friday in the cases against an Allegheny Township man accused of rape and sexual assaults by five women and a teen. Jurors deliberated nearly 14 hours over two days and reported they were at an impasse and unable to reach verdicts on all 24 counts in...
Jury deliberations to resume in sexual assault and rape trial of Allegheny Township man
A Westmoreland County jury will continue deliberations Friday morning in the rape and sexual assault trial of an Allegheny Township man. Jurors in the cases against Eric Alan Wright, 49, deliberated more than eight hours Thursday before they were sent home for the night by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge...
Chiropractor guilty of animal cruelty for 2019 shooting of dog in Monessen
A Rostraver chiropractor was convicted Thursday of two misdemeanor offenses in connection with the shooting of a dog two years ago in Monessen. A Westmoreland County jury deliberated nearly 11 hours over two days before reaching a mixed verdict that found James Scirotto, 48, guilty of animal cruelty and reckless...
No verdict Wednesday: Jury considers animal cruelty charges filed against Rostraver chiropractor
A Westmoreland County jury was sent home Wednesday night without reaching a verdict in the animal cruelty case filed against a Rostraver chiropractor charged with shooting a dog in Monessen two years ago. During the three-day trial, prosecutors said James Scirotto, 48, recklessly fired as many as seven shots from...
Prosecution rests in rape and sexual assault trial of Allegheny Township man
Two more women told a Westmoreland County jury on Wednesday they were raped by an Allegheny Township man. Their testimony came during the third day in the trial of Eric Wright, 49, who prosecutors claim sexually assaulted and raped three juveniles and three adult women, dating back to the early...
Monessen woman testifies wounded dog not aggressive, disputes claim it attacked neighbors
Carley Layhue told a Westmoreland County jury she still doesn’t understand why her dog was shot after he escaped the backyard of her Monessen home two years ago. “He is the best dog. I couldn’t ask for a better dog for my children,” Layhue testified Tuesday during the second day...
3 more women testify they were sexually assaulted by Allegheny Township man
A pediatrician testified Tuesday that no signs of physical abuse were discovered during an examination of a pre-teen girl who claimed she was raped multiple times by an Allegheny Township man in 2019. Dr. Jennifer Wolford, a child abuse specialist at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, told jurors that lack...
Self-defense claimed in Monessen dog shooting
The lawyer for a Rostraver chiropractor charged with animal cruelty and related offenses told a Westmoreland County jury on Monday that his client shot a barking mixed-breed dog to protect his family. Defense attorney Christopher Blackwell contended a neighbor’s canine snarled, barked and was set to attack children and adults...
Trial begins for Allegheny Township man charged with sexually assaulting 3 children, 3 adults
An Allegheny Township man charged with the sexual assaults of three children and three adults over two decades showed no emotion Monday as the first of his accusers struggled to testify about the alleged abuses she claims she suffered in 2019. The now 14-year-old girl from New Kensington, who prosecutors...
Campaign for drug treatment, recovery programs unveiled for Westmoreland, eastern Allegheny residentsVideo
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday announced a new public campaign to promote local addiction and recovery programs to combat the still climbing numbers of drug overdoses and deaths in Western Pennsylvania. The Press Play PA program will target Westmoreland County and eastern Allegheny County communities to highlight efforts being...
WCCC trustee says he’s being punished for speaking out about school mask policy
Controversial statements that criticized a mask mandate at Westmoreland County Community College could result in the ouster of a member of the school’s board of trustees. A majority of trustees met behind closed doors this month to discuss potential censure of Doug Weimer, who publicly questioned the college’s mask policy...
Municipal Authority approves water sale for fracking site
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members on Friday approved a deal to sell raw, untreated water to a local energy company for a new gas well expected to be drilled next year in Upper Burrell. The deal will allow Olympus Energy of Canonsburg to purchase up to 2.2 million...
Loyalhanna man sentenced in connection with raid on suspected meth lab
A Loyalhanna man was ordered to serve up to 23 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to two drug charges. Brian Miller, 52, was arrested in April after the state police raided his home and found chemicals and equipment that investigators said were precursors to manufacture methamphetamine. As part...
Penn Township man pleads guilty to stalking and role in failed jail drug smuggling plot
Tracey Boyle made it perfectly clear she no longer wanted anything to do with her former boyfriend after enduring months of fear and concern over the safety for herself and her children. “No one would logically sign up for you. Your behavior came to be of a child who didn’t...
Salem man pleads guilty to blackmailing local teens for sex photos
A Salem man pleaded guilty to charges he blackmailed local teens to send naked pictures to him. Dylan James Krupitzer, 20, was charged last year after police said he contacted a 16-year-old girl in 2019 through a social media account and demanded she send him pornographic pictures of herself. Police...
Penn Township man pleads guilty to stalking and role in failed jail drug smuggling plot
Tracey Boyle made it perfectly clear she no longer wanted anything to do with her former boyfriend after enduring months of fear and concern over the safety for herself and her children. “No one would logically sign up for you. Your behavior came to be of a child who didn’t...
Greensburg man guilty in rape of unconscious woman
A Greensburg man was convicted of the rape of an unconscious woman and the indecent assault of another in a city apartment three years ago. Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani on Tuesday found Levi Evans, 24, guilty of four charges in connection with the Jan. 18, 2018, incident. Two women...
Westmoreland tax delinquent property sale nets $1.5 million
Bryaunt Williams came to bid. Williams, a contractor from Tarentum, was one of the more than 160 potential buyers who came to the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Monday to find a deal during the annual sale of tax delinquent properties. “I was doing remodeling work on a home last year,...
Westmoreland Commissioner Chew pledges to cover lost drug court grant for weekend testing
Westmoreland Commissioner Doug Chew said he will pay for weekend drug tests of participants in the county’s drug court program until a permanent funding source is secured. In an email sent to county judges over the weekend, the first-term Republican from Hempfield pledged to help identify future funding sources for...
4th man pleads guilty to Sutersville shooting, agrees to cooperate with possible murder probe
An Allegheny County man pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated assault, burglary and robbery charges and agreed to cooperate with a police investigation into the disappearance of a woman who has not been seen since two people were shot in Sutersville during a drug-related robbery three years ago. Dylan John Vasko,...
Westmoreland drug court needs cash but commissioner’s pledged donation still MIA
Westmoreland’s drug court is in dire need of cash after the county learned this week it lost a grant that pays for weekend testing of participants. The shortfall could be made up through a 2019 campaign pledge from Doug Chew to donate 60% of his commissioner’s salary to fund drug...
New Kensington man pleads guilty to sale of fatal drugs in 2017 overdose
A New Kensington man was ordered to serve at least five years in prison in connection with the sale of drugs used in a fatal overdose in 2017. Martez D. “Chico” Whitlow, 30, pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of drug delivery resulting in death and an additional drug-related count...
Greene County man to serve probation, house arrest for assault, drugging of 2-year-old
The lawyer for a Greene County man who pleaded guilty to a brutal assault of a 2-year-old Derry boy in 2016 told a judge on Friday his client was the most “damaged” person he’s ever represented. Defense attorney Gary Gerson said Cory Andrew Kuntz, 28, was a victim of sexual...
Westmoreland officials seek public input for spending $105 million in covid relief funds
Westmoreland County spent just more than 1% of the $105 million it expects to receive in relief funds from the American Rescue Plan and wants the public’s ideas for how the bulk of the remaining cash should be used. Commissioners posted a bare-bones survey on the county’s web page that...
Judges orders jail sentence for New Kensington man in girlfriend’s death
Andrew Brown told a judge on Thursday he hadn’t spoken to his mother for more than a year before she was killed by her boyfriend during an altercation four years ago in a Lower Burrell parking lot. “I still loved her, and now I will never have another chance to...
