Justin Vellucci stories, Page 15
Munhall woman who died in Allegheny County Jail was brought there on drug charges
Authorities on Wednesday identified the woman who died last weekend in the Allegheny County Jail as a Munhall resident, but details remain sparse about the circumstances surrounding her death. Tracey Hickey, 53, died in the jail’s intake section in Downtown Pittsburgh at 7:56 a.m. Saturday, according to the Allegheny County...
Police charge couple in fatal shooting after Pittsburgh roommates argue over messy house
An argument Monday between roommates over a messy house in Pittsburgh turned deadly, police said. When the squabble was over inside the South Side Slopes home, Eddie Kimber was fatally shot and two people were under arrest. Police charged one of the roommates, Destiny Jenkins, 23, and her boyfriend, Lee...
Former Woodland Hills football standout dies in Larimer shooting
A man who was fatally shot late Monday in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood was a Woodland Hills High School football standout and high honor roll student who went on to the gridiron at a Baltimore university. Gavin Yarbough, 21, of Braddock Hills was shot multiple times and taken to UPMC Presbyterian...
McKeesport woman names husband as suspect in her own killing
At 5:06 a.m. Saturday, a McKeesport man called 911 and told police someone outside had shot his wife. When police arrived at his apartment, he told them she shot herself. But, police said, before his wife died in a nearby hospital an hour later, she fingered her husband as the...
DA drops charge in sword attack at Pittsburgh hotel during furry convention
The prosecution Monday withdrew its case against a South Carolina man accused of a sword attack in a Pittsburgh hotel room this summer while he was in town for the annual Anthrocon convention. Police charged Jake O’Leary, 26, of Greenville, S.C., with aggravated assault after the July incident at the...
Hispanic heritage celebrated at Greensburg art museum as population in region jumps
When Carolina Loyola-Garcia left her native Chile some 27 years ago to study art in Pittsburgh, about 4,000 Hispanic men and women, about 1% of the city’s population, called the Steel City home. “There was no flamenco here — and I wanted to dance,” Loyola-Garcia said with a laugh, sweating...
Coroner: Baby in Bloomfield beating has died
The 4-month-old infant a Bloomfield man was arrested for beating into “grave condition” has died, authorities confirmed Sunday. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the child as Micaiah Williams. Pittsburgh police were dispatched around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday to West Penn Hospital, where Micaiah was being treated for multiple...
1 dead after McKees Rocks shooting
A Castle Shannon man was killed in a shooting Saturday night in McKees Rocks, authorities said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Sunday identified the victim as William Hopkins, 34. Police said they were dispatched to the 300 block of Ella Street at 10:38 p.m. First responders found Hopkins...
Hiding behind the badge: Police often shield officers’ names, details in fatal encounters
Christopher Shepherd was the first to die. SWAT officers fatally shot him in January, a mentally ill man in crisis in the affluent suburb of Upper St. Clair. Austyn Cousins was next, shot dead later that month by Pittsburgh police as he reached into his trunk, which held guns. In...
Pittsburgh police chief explains transfers of motorcycle supervisors in Trump rally security flap
Pittsburgh’s police chief said Thursday that a lieutenant overstepped his authority when he approved at least a dozen members of the city force’s motorcycle unit to provide security at the Butler County rally at which former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt. Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto said he...
North Huntingdon man who drove school buses accused of sharing nude pics with teen
A North Huntingdon man who worked as a bus driver and was a police chaplain is accused of exchanging nude photos with a student he drove to school in an effort to groom the 17-year-old Duquesne boy, police said. Michael F. Singer, 57, told police he shared sexually explicit photos...
South Side brawl breaks leg of Pittsburgh cop in charge of district’s anti-crime effortsVideo
The Pittsburgh police sergeant who heads an anti-crime patrol in the South Side’s entertainment district suffered a gruesome leg injury early Saturday during a chaotic confrontation with a violent crowd outside a bar that led to one arrest. Surveillance video shows a surging group of people scuffling along a sidewalk...
Lawsuit accuses Pittsburgh cops of ‘abandoning’ drunk woman killed by driver on West End Bridge
The estate of a Homestead woman fatally struck by a vehicle that knocked her off Pittsburgh’s West End Bridge in January is suing Pittsburgh police, three of its officers and a city bar for what the complaint claims are their roles in her death. The seven-count civil rights lawsuit, filed...
Ex-Pittsburgher pleads guilty to swindling investors out of $2M in green energy scheme
A former Pittsburgher admitted Wednesday in court to using a sham energy company to bilk victims out of more than $2 million he and his colleagues used to gamble, pay court-ordered fines and buy jewelry, boats, furniture and wedding gifts. Jonathan Freeze, 65, pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh...
Authorities make fentanyl bust in Carrick after someone shoots at DEA agent’s car
A Pittsburgh man remained in custody Tuesday after authorities found more than 150 bricks of fentanyl, two guns and bundles of cash in his Carrick home, according to court documents. Authorities charged Drew Gordon, 22, with fentanyl distribution. Investigators searched Gordon’s house on Valera Avenue last week after an undercover...
Small roof fire breaks out at AHN Jefferson Hospital
A small “construction-related” fire broke out late Tuesday morning on the roof of AHN Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, according to a hospital spokeswoman. No one was hurt. The fire, which was reported at 11:20 a.m., caused some smoke to enter the upper floors of the hospital through the building’s...
Religious leaders swap stories, talk grant funding during house of worship security forum
Three religious leaders — bonded only by acts of violence — took to a North Braddock church pulpit Thursday night to share how they’ve shepherded their congregations past being defined by those who attacked them. The Rev. Glenn Germany knew the space best. Just three months ago, the McKeesport man...
Pittsburgh woman identified as person found dead in Monongahela River near Sandcastle
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the woman whose body was found Thursday afternoon in the Monongahela River. The medical examiner’s office identified the woman as Latasha Jefferson, 36, of Pittsburgh. The medical examiner’s release did not list a cause or manner of the woman’s death. Pittsburgh police...
Authorities investigating if delayed report of sexual relationship in McKeesport schools is criminal
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing whether McKeesport School District employees failed to alert state authorities to an alleged sexual relationship between a district employee and a teenage student or delayed reporting their suspicions and, if so, whether their actions were criminal. Allegheny County Police in January charged...
Good Samaritan’s gesture ends in hail of bullets, long road to recovery
On Aug. 7, Paul Werder, described by his wife as an inveterate good Samaritan, approached a homeless man who appeared hurt along a road on Pittsburgh’s North Side. They stood about 2 feet apart. “Are you okay?” Werder, 73, asked. “Can I help you?” The answer came through the crack...
Pittsburgh police sergeant resigns amid charges of phantom work while moonlighting at Target
A Pittsburgh police sergeant facing criminal charges related to his moonlighting resigned this week, a day before his first scheduled appearance in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Brian M. Marckisotto, 36, of Peters, is facing trial on charges that he misused a city computer program that schedules police officers for...
Pittsburghers’ English tutoring helps them connect with immigrants settling in region
When Eliane Totti’s stomach ached in her native Brazil, she’d take pineapple, collard greens, lemon and ginger from the homeopathic shop she ran four hours north of Sao Paulo and whip up a juice. The businesswoman learned more about American healthcare after immigrating to Mt. Lebanon two years ago. She’s...
Pittsburgher Henry Ellenbogen wielded pen, paper to save Jews in 1930s. Now you can read how.
In May 1938, Henry Ellenbogen, a prominent Pittsburgher, received a letter from a Jewish garment cutter in New York City’s Bronx borough. The man needed Ellenbogen’s help cutting through government red tape so he could bring his brother and mother to America from their native Austria. “I hope to God...
Pittsburgh man headed to court for March car crash that killed 1, injured 5
A Pittsburgh man who, authorities say, was intoxicated when he sped through a red light near the West End Bridge and triggered a three-car crash that killed a passenger and injured five more is set to have his day in court. Pittsburgh police arrested Russell William Page, 28, of Mt....
Fighting an ‘American problem’: Clairton mom, Steelers quarterback, Pittsburgh’s mayor unite against gun violence
Tina Ford drew inspiration from tragedy. On April 26, 2019, her 23-year-old son, Armani, was gunned down in their Clairton hometown. He had been a star quarterback who led Clairton High School’s football team through a 63-game winning streak and four straight state championships. In the five years that followed,...
