Justin Vellucci stories, Page 26
North Oakland woman accused of striking woman in wheelchair with her car, driving away
Pittsburgh police filed charges Wednesday against a North Oakland woman who they say drove her car into a woman crossing Centre Avenue in a wheelchair earlier this month and then drove away. Police said Kelda Gorman was crossing Centre just after 7 a.m. Nov. 13 when she was struck by...
Pittsburgh detectives who took down Brackenridge chief’s killer lauded alongside their peers
Pittsburgh police Detectives Sean Stumpf and Mike Slatcoff still remember rushing to the city’s Homewood-Brushton neighborhood on Jan. 2 to chase the fugitive who killed Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire. The fugitive — Aaron Lamont Swan Jr., 28, of Duquesne — emerged from a wooded area after crashing a stolen...
McKeesport mayor arrested, jailed in Nashville
The mayor of McKeesport said he’s embarrassed about being jailed early Sunday after Nashville police said he was drunk and became belligerent with staff at a city gastropub. Michael Cherepko, 46, was “causing a scene” outside the Nashville bar/restaurant Whiskey Row and accused staff of stealing his credit card shortly...
Wheeling-area man accused of abandoning dog at Pittsburgh International Airport
A West Virginia man is accused of abandoning a dog at Pittsburgh International Airport last week in the second such incident in about 2½ months. Allegheny County Police, who patrol the airport, said they charged David Mittelberger Sr., 68, of Windsor Heights, W.Va., near Wheeling, with abandonment of animals, animal...
North Side man sexually assaulted girl over 4 years, impregnating her at 13, police say
A Pittsburgh man is accused of sexually assaulting the daughter of a woman he knew over four years, starting when the girl was 10 and impregnating her at 13. Todd Keith Summers, 30, of Northview Heights, was arraigned early Friday and taken to Allegheny County Jail after being denied bail,...
Pittsburgh tourism bounces back from pandemic freefall, new report shows
Andrew Masich said he started to notice a change last year. The Sen. John Heinz History Center president and CEO watched attendance numbers dip at the Strip District museum during the covid-19 pandemic. Then, this summer, he saw attendance soar when the Allegheny Regional Asset District provided funding allowing the...
Man shot in Pittsburgh’s North Side, no arrests made
A man was taken to an area hospital Friday morning after being shot in Pittsburgh’s North Side. Emergency crews responded to the 100 block of Sheffield Street in Manchester around 9:15 a.m. after receiving a ShotSpotter alert that six rounds had been fired in the area, police spokeswoman Cara Cruz...
Police seek man for questioning in connection with abandoned dog at Pittsburgh airport
Allegheny County Police are sharing surveillance video in an attempt to identify and track down the man who abandoned a dog this week at Pittsburgh International Airport. At about 1:15 p.m. Thursday, a traveler at the airport told an Allegheny County Police officer that they saw a dog tied to...
Man critically injured after being shot multiple times in Wilkinsburg
A man was hospitalized after being shot multiple times Thursday morning in Wilkinsburg. The shooting happened in the 200 block of Penn Avenue around 11:15 a.m., said Allegheny County Police spokeswoman Jim Madalinsky. The wounded man, who police did not name, was taken to an area hospital in critical condition,...
Additional beds open for homeless Pittsburghers as winter approaches
John Goosby has lived under the Liberty Bridge in Downtown Pittsburgh for a month now. He said a series of unrelated events led him there, including a romantic partner draining his bank account and then disappearing. The 74-year-old retired steelworker used Social Security money to buy a thick winter jacket,...
Harrison mom accused of nearly killing daughter with drug-contaminated cotton balls
An 11-month-old Harrison girl nearly died this summer after chewing on cotton balls soaked with remnants of the opioids her mother had used intravenously at a Union Avenue home, police said. Now, the girl’s mother is facing charges. Lenae Elizabeth Mills, 29, noticed her daughter, whom police did not name,...
Police: 2 hospitalized, 1 in custody following Baldwin stabbing
A suspect is in custody after a stabbing that hospitalized two people Monday in Baldwin. Allegheny County Police responded to the 5300 block of Youngridge Drive at about 1:15 p.m., police spokesman Jim Madalinsky said. First responders found a man and woman, both adults, suffering from stab wounds to the...
Vandal smashed windows at Squirrel Hill business, removed ‘Support Israel’ signs, police say
A vandal smashed windows at a Squirrel Hill business and a marked business vehicle parked nearby over the weekend, Pittsburgh police said Monday morning. Police from Zone 4 responded to a business early Friday in the 2400 block of Beechwood Boulevard for a criminal mischief report, police spokeswoman Cara Cruz...
Braddock councilwoman-elect, chief spar over police handling of shots fired into her home
A Braddock councilwoman-elect criticized two police officers she said didn’t take notes or photos after someone fired shots into her home. The police chief on Friday defended his team. Braddock police responded to the 100 block of Corey Avenue at about 6 a.m. Sunday for reports of gunshots at the...
’90s-era Pittsburgh ska outfit Skankin’ Homer to play rare reunion show on Saturday
Brian Seese returned to his native Pittsburgh in 1996 after two years in Las Vegas with a bug on his mind. “I wanted to start a ska band,” said Seese, now 48, a utility company worker and father of two who’s planning to move from Butler County to Bellevue. “I...
For every goal the Penguins score at home, the Pittsburgh area gets a new tree
Fourth-grader K.K. Cunningham had never planted a tree before Thursday. But the 9-year-old Hazelwood boy was a natural, grabbing a shovel, pivoting and plunging it into soil outside Pittsburgh Mifflin Elementary on what was a gray November morning in the city’s Lincoln Place neighborhood. By the time K.K.’s in eighth...
Former Pittsburgh cop facing wiretapping allegations to receive $6,500 monthly pension
A former Pittsburgh police zone commander who retired amid investigations into whether he wiretapped fellow officers will receive a monthly pension of nearly $6,500 unless he’s convicted on criminal charges, police officials said Thursday. The board of managers of Pittsburgh Policemen’s Relief and Pension Fund voted unanimously Thursday to pay...
Medical examiner identifies pedestrian killed Nov. 9 in North Braddock crash
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Saturday identified a pedestrian struck and killed by a car Nov. 9 in North Braddock. Harry King, 75, of Braddock, was killed when a motorist driving north on Braddock Avenue went off the roadway around 8:15 a.m. and struck him, police and the...
2 antisemitic incidents in Pittsburgh bring annual tally to nearly twice 2022’s figure
Two antisemitic incidents — a “threatening” Instagram meme and graffiti scrawled at the University of Pittsburgh’s campus — were reported this week to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, bringing 2023’s number of incidents to 242, nearly twice the total reported last year. Security officials released the information Thursday morning,...
2 Pittsburgh students hospitalized after eating ‘unknown edible candy’
Two students at Brashear High School in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood were hospitalized Wednesday after they ingested “am unknown edible candy,” a school spokeswoman said. Four students were involved in the incident. Two fell ill after eating the candy, Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said. School officials are investigating to...
Pittsburgh school board VP handily reelected along with 3 new members
A Pittsburgh Public Schools board first-vice president cruised to a second term Tuesday, while three newcomers secured board spots following uncontested races. Democrat Devon Taliaferro, who was first elected in 2019, will sit on the board in 2024 alongside newly elected Democrats Emma Yourd and Dwayne Barker. Board member-elect Yael...
Wilkinsburg tries to demolish ‘deplorable’ buildings, avoid gentrification
Sunlight pours into the shattered roof of a four-unit Hill Avenue rowhouse — bricks and shingles fall onto neighboring properties. An abandoned Glenn Avenue home sits with its glass windows broken out. Weeds snake up toward its second floor. A 2,900-square-foot shell of a home on North Avenue has its...
‘There’s nowhere to go’: Pittsburgh clears homeless camp
Four homeless Pittsburghers stood Tuesday afternoon near tents at the wedge of land where Grant Street meets Fort Pitt Boulevard and said they didn’t know what comes next. City officials announced last week they were tearing down a Downtown homeless encampment, and posted warning signs ordering those living on First...
County police investigating incident with Hampton bus driver, 2 students
Allegheny County Police are investigating a Monday morning incident involving a bus driver and two students who attend independent schools but live within the Hampton Township School District, officials said. County Police Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph said on Tuesday that the bus driver, whose name was not released, “suffered a...
Man arrested after rampage at North Side convenience store
A 29-year-old man was arraigned in court Monday after police say he attacked several people a day earlier at a 7-Eleven in the North Side. Tyler Vick entered the Western Avenue convenience store at about 11:55 a.m. on Sunday and, after trying to pay for several items with just a...
