Justin Vellucci stories, Page 23
Driver to stand trial in fatal ‘drag-racing’ crash that killed Serra Catholic student
It took just two minutes and 18 seconds. A crowded Pittsburgh courtroom fell silent Friday as dash cam footage — time-stamped two seconds after 7:22 a.m. Sept. 20 — showed school van driver Richard Alan Maleski waiting at a stop sign and preparing to enter the intersection at Third Street...
Armed guards to patrol Diocese of Pittsburgh schools
Four security supervisors and six armed guards soon will patrol Catholic schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, a move slated to kickstart plans to modernize security for the 13,000-student community, diocesan officials announced Thursday. The supervisors, who the diocese hired Jan. 3, will be assigned to four zones, three of...
Survivors, activists join Pittsburgh Mayor Gainey for Downtown ceremony that calls to stem gun violence
It took Gina Pelusi’s mother, Ruthanne, a music teacher, at the front door of her home on Feb. 6, 2014. On Aug. 5, 2008, it came for Vaughn Rivers’ brother, Anthony, on a Garfield Street after his basketball team had been crowned Connie Hawkins League champs. In 1993, Geraldine Massey...
Patient charged with attacking Pittsburgh medics in ambulance melee
A North Side man has been charged with attacking two Pittsburgh paramedics treating him inside an ambulance after he was resuscitated on a Downtown sidewalk. Mark Nixon, 45, of Perry South, was found unconscious near Wood Street and Third Avenue around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint in...
Authorities arrest Pittsburgh homicide suspect in Atlanta
A Pittsburgh man wanted in the June 25 fatal shooting of a bicyclist on the North Side has been apprehended in Georgia. Medford Taylor, 56, was taken into custody Thursday in Atlanta following an investigation by Pittsburgh police, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. announced Tuesday. Taylor was...
Firefighters injured in Homestead blaze leave hospital
All five firefighters injured Saturday battling a Homestead blaze that heavily damaged three residences are back home and recuperating, Allegheny County officials said Monday. Two received minor to moderate burns and injuries from falling through the first floor to the basement of one of the damaged homes, said Abigail Gardner,...
Pittsburgh police charge 2 teens in South Side vape shop armed robbery
Police have charged two Pittsburgh teens with the armed robbery of a South Side vape shop last month. Jermaine Strong, 18, and Llaila Ahkunke, 17, wielded a shotgun and pistol when they stole cash and vape cartridges from Keystone Vapes on East Carson Street on Dec. 13, according to a...
Lunar lander from Pittsburgh’s North Side burns up in atmosphere after failed moon mission
After traveling for 10 days and hundreds of thousands of miles in space, a Pittsburgh company’s lunar lander appears to have burned up in the atmosphere Thursday afternoon after returning to Earth. The spacecraft, the first American effort to attempt a moon landing in decades, closed the book on its...
3 major Pittsburgh bridges set to get $132M in renovations
Millions of dollars in federal funds will go to help repair and upgrade three major Pittsburgh bridges, federal and state officials announced Thursday. A total of $132 million will help repair steel components, joints and bearings on the McKees Rocks, West End and Fort Duquesne bridges, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey,...
Morning Roundup: Police recover 60 animals — 10 dead — at Butler County home
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Jan. 19: Police find 60 animals — 10 dead — at Butler County home A total of 60 animals were recovered — and several found dead — when Pennsylvania State Police executed a search warrant for animal cruelty...
Morning roundup: Snow’s coming; Butler butcher shop damaged by fire
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Jan. 18: The Pittsburgh area could see a few inches of snow in the coming days, with a “winter weather advisory” in effect for most of southwestern Pennsylvania from 1 a.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday, according to...
Frigid conditions persist, shuttering and delaying over 300 schools in Western Pa.
More than 300 schools in Western Pennsylvania delayed or canceled classes Wednesday morning in the face of continued frigid temperatures, sub-zero wind-chill readings and lingering snow. Pittsburgh Public Schools closed for a second straight day Wednesday, a move its leaders announced Tuesday night. Other districts, such as Greensburg-Salem, Hempfield Area...
Morning Roundup: 1 shot in Homestead; Beaver County man killed in crash
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Jan. 17: 1 hospitalized in Homestead shooting A man was hospitalized Wednesday morning after being shot in the back in Homestead, Allegheny County Police said. The non-fatal shooting was reported at about 4:20 a.m. in the 1000 block...
County health inspectors shut down Whitehall’s Noble Asian Grocery Store
Allegheny County health officials ordered an Asian market in Whitehall to close after it racked up 14 food safety and sanitation violations during an inspection last week. A health department inspector found Noble Asian Grocery Store was selling expired kimchi, a fermented vegetable dish, with “severe black mold-like growth” on it;...
Baldwin Township cop charged with strangling woman
A Baldwin Township police officer has been arrested on charges that he held a woman against a wall by her throat after she refused to have sex with him. The officer, Christopher Fry, 44, of South Fayette, was drinking with the woman at his Station Street home around 10:45 p.m....
Overnight snow impacts Western Pa. schools, roadways
More than 200 schools and school districts — from Academy Charter School in Pittsburgh to the Yough School District in Westmoreland County — either closed or delayed the opening of school Tuesday morning, as the Pittsburgh area was hit with snow and frigid temperatures. Pittsburgh Public Schools canceled classes for...
Morning Roundup: Fire damages Dollar Tree in Homestead
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Jan. 16: Fire damages Dollar Tree in Homestead A fire was reported early Tuesday at a Dollar Tree store in Homestead. Firefighters, police and paramedics responded to the store, located near Heisel Street, at about 3 a.m., according...
Loved ones lament death of Upper St. Clair man killed by police
Yellow police tape fluttered last week like paper streamers from the trees along Lamar Road in Upper St. Clair, a grim reminder for Christopher Shepherd’s family and friends of his violent death at the hands of police. Shepherd, who battled mental illness for more than 20 years, was gunned down...
Medical examiner confirms New Castle baby died of acetone poisoning
The mysterious death last summer of a New Castle baby was officially deemed a homicide Monday morning. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Iris Rita Alfera, 1, of New Castle died June 29 from acetone poisoning. The manner of death was deemed a homicide. Iris, an 18-month-old Lawrence County...
Morning Roundup: 1 injured after tractor-trailer fire at New Stanton exit of Turnpike
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, Jan. 15: 1 injured after tractor-trailer fire at New Stanton exit of Turnpike One person was injured after a tractor-trailer carrying vehicles burned for more than an hour after the trailer rolled over early Sunday along a Pennsylvania...
Freezing temps, snow in immediate forecast for Western Pa.
Western Pennsylvanians should expect to snuggle up, as freezing temperatures and snow don’t seem to be going away anytime soon. According to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, temperatures dropped to as low as 0 degrees in Clarion County on Monday morning. Readings in Pittsburgh lingered around 10 degrees, the...
Pittsburghers, punk fans celebrate Erik Bauer’s book documenting 25 years of shows
The crowd that packed a Point Breeze bookshop Friday to celebrate a book release by Pittsburgh-bred photographer Erik Bauer could’ve been pulled right out of a 1981 punk show at Oakland’s now-shuttered Electric Banana. Or cheering on The Bats, a local post-punk outfit led in May ‘84 by Pulitzer Prize-winning...
Family of Upper St. Clair man killed by police alleges ‘excessive force’
The family of an Upper St. Clair man killed by police Sunday while in the throes of a mental health crisis is accusing the SWAT officers who shot him of using excessive force and questioning their tactics. “The mental health system failed us,” Shepherd’s half-sister, Micki Kippelen, said Wednesday. “And...
Brighton Heights woman charged with killing man over drugs, sex, money
A Brighton Heights woman was jailed Tuesday on charges that she fatally shot an Arlington man last month in a confrontation that police said revolved around illicit drugs, sex and a $700 CashApp payment. Jaelyn Nowlin, 20, is charged with killing Grant Gibeault, 25, in his apartment in the 2200...
Case proceeds against man in North Side shooting where more than 30 shots were fired
A Pittsburgh man will be tried in Common Pleas court on charges stemming from an August shooting at a North Side afterhours club that left another man critically injured. Sheridan Marsh, 34, was arrested by Pittsburgh police and U.S. Marshals in October, two months after 34 rounds of gunfire were...
