Justin Vellucci stories, Page 29
Police say Beechview woman contributed to friend’s fentanyl-related death
A Pittsburgh woman has been criminally charged with contributing to the fentanyl-related death of her best friend. Scott police on Monday charged Mackenzie Bell, 24, of Beechview with criminal conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility in the March 11 death of Allison Schreiner, 24, of Scott Township, according...
Morning roundup: Fire impacts 3 Murrysville businesses; arrest made in robbery of 2 Pitt students
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 3: Fire in Murrysville impacts 3 businesses A fire broke out in a business building early Tuesday in Murrysville. The fire was reported at about 2:30 a.m.on the 4000 block of William Penn Highway. The structure houses...
Another gun detected at Pittsburgh International; airport on pace for record number of confiscations, TSA says
The Transportation Security Administration confiscated a loaded handgun from a Georgia man at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday, the third gun intercepted at the airport in a week, officials said. “We are on the cusp of setting a new all-time high in the number of guns our team has detected...
Police say McKees Rocks mother stabbed her child’s father in the chest
Munhall police say a child-custody exchange turned violent Sunday afternoon when a woman stabbed her daughter’s father in the chest outside his Munhall apartment. Police said they responded to the 3800 block of Shady Avenue around 3:15 p.m. and found a man identified as Victor Harvey suffering from a stab...
Crash sends motorcycle passenger over Pittsburgh’s 31st Street Bridge onto train tracks below
A motorcyclist struck a concrete barrier on the 31st Street Bridge early Monday, sending a female passenger over the bridge onto train tracks below, Pittsburgh police said. The crash closed the bridge to traffic for about two hours. Authorities responded to the incident around 4:30 a.m. Police spokeswoman Cara Cruz...
Morning Roundup: Man hospitalized after Bloomfield shooting; fire destroys Cook Township home
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, Oct. 2: Man hospitalized after Bloomfield shooting A man was hospitalized early Monday after a shooting outside a Bloomfield business. Pittsburgh police from Zone 5 responded to the 4900 block of Yew Street at about 2 a.m. for...
Motorcyclist killed in Regent Square crash
A motorcyclist was killed late Sunday after colliding with a vehicle near Regent Square. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office early Monday identified the man as Roy Calvin Holiday IV, 37, of Pittsburgh’s North Side. Pittsburgh police, firefighters and EMS responded to the 500 block of South Braddock Avenue, near...
Pedestrian injured after PRT bus hits her on South Side’s East Carson Street
A woman was hospitalized Friday after a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus hit her in South South Flats. The “roughly college-aged” woman, who Pittsburgh Regional Transit did not name, suffered a head injury, neck pain and scrapes on her elbow after the 83-Bedford Hills bus hit her around 3 p.m., transit...
Coroner identifies 1 of 2 people killed in I-79 tractor-trailer crash
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Friday afternoon identified one of the two people killed in Thursday’s tractor-trailer crash on Interstate 79 as Butler County resident Frank L. Tupper, Jr. Tupper, 54, of Butler City, died at 12:50 a.m. Thursday at the scene of the crash, I-79’s northbound lanes...
East Liberty man accused of raping girl he met at East Busway station
A Pittsburgh man is accused of raping a teenager who police said he met this spring at an East Busway station. Thomas Cocco, 30, of East Liberty, who had a preliminary hearing Friday, encountered the 17-year-old girl at the Homewood Avenue busway stop in Point Breeze shortly after midnight May...
Pittsburgh teen arrested in connection with deadly shooting in Allentown
Authorities arrested a Pittsburgh teen Thursday who they say was wanted in connection with a fatal shooting last week in the city’s Allentown neighborhood. Diontae Carter, 17, was taken into custody without incident after being sought in the killing of Mohamed Hussein, 15, on Sept. 19, police spokeswoman Cara Cruz...
Pittsburgh police, mayor say alert bus driver, parent thwarted potential shooting at Homewood school
An alert bus driver and a concerned parent helped prevent a potential shooting earlier this month at a Homewood high school, Pittsburgh officials said Thursday. Pittsburgh police responded to Westinghouse Academy on North Murtland Street around 2:30 p.m. Sept. 15 after the driver and parent told Pittsburgh Public Schools police...
2-year-old dies after being struck by vehicle in Penn Hills driveway
A 2-year-old girl died Thursday morning after being struck by a vehicle in Penn Hills. Allegheny County Police said a person they identified as a parent was leaving their home in the 100 block of Lynwood Drive around 8 a.m. when they struck the child at the end of a...
Review board votes to investigate Pittsburgh police’s use of force during Downtown arrest captured on video
Pittsburgh’s Citizen Police Review Board voted Tuesday night to launch an investigation into whether Pittsburgh police officers used excessive force when arresting a Garfield man Downtown last month. Pittsburgh police arrested Jashon Martin, 32, around 8:30 p.m. Aug. 25 in the Smithfield Street corridor near Mellon Square Park on multiple...
Delaware man accused of stabbing woman in North Hills arraigned in Allegheny County Court
A Delaware man is accused of breaking into the North Hills home of his ex-girlfriend’s parents this summer and trying to kill her with a knife. Allen Cephas Foote, 50, of Wilmington, Del., was arraigned Tuesday morning in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in connection with the case, court records...
Pittsburgh woman accused of stealing more than $800K from Castle Shannon learning center
The head of a Castle Shannon learning center is accused of stealing more than $800,000 from the organization’s coffers. Sammi Jo Whittaker, 36, of Beechview, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of forgery, theft by unlawful taking, access device fraud, receiving stolen property, dealing in the proceeds of illegal activity, unlawful...
TSA confiscates 2nd gun in 3 days at Pittsburgh International Airport
Security officials at Pittsburgh International Airport on Tuesday morning seized their second gun in three days. Transportation Security Administration officials stopped a Troy, Bradford County, woman from bringing a loaded, .380-caliber handgun that was in her backpack onto her flight Tuesday, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. TSA officials previously had...
Black lung: Government, advocates eye new federal silica-dust standard to stem resurgence among coal miners
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Black lung: Advocates eye new federal silica-dust standard to stem resurgence among coal minersVideo
Mark Rankin left the coal mines, but the coal mines haven’t left Mark Rankin. Stocky and broad shouldered, the retired Uniontown-area coal miner trekked to a Washington County health clinic to see if recent coughing and tightness in his chest could be black lung. Rankin worked for years stripping coal...
Police charge pet owner for killing dog she left tied to a door after moving out of Hill District apartment
A Hill District woman is accused of tying her dog to an apartment door and leaving it behind this spring when she moved out of the unit, leading the dog to starve to death. Talazia Monique Johnson, 22, of Bedford Dwellings, told police she lost her job in April and...
Pittsburgh man in fake cop uniform had knife when he went to courthouse to harass judge, police say
A Pittsburgh man is accused of going into Allegheny County Courthouse while wearing a fake police uniform and carrying a knife to harass a Common Pleas judge. Christopher Hall, 29, of the Hill District, tried to enter Common Pleas Judge Edward Borkowski’s courtroom around 10:40 a.m. Tuesday dressed in a...
Serra Catholic officials describe student killed in van crash as ‘beating heart of her class’Video
The morning unfolded in chaos. When Serra Catholic High School Principal Bob Childs heard that a school van carrying four of his students to the McKeesport school had crashed around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, he immediately went to the scene. By the time he arrived near Mansfield Bridge in Dravosburg, paramedics...
Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Class of 2028 will be last to receive Pittsburgh Promise scholarships
Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Class of 2028 will be the final group of students to receive Pittsburgh Promise scholarships, the nonprofit behind the scholarships said in a letter to district parents. Saleem Ghubril, executive director of The Pittsburgh Promise, said he is confident that the nonprofit will be able to complete...
McKeesport Catholic school community gathers to mourn death of 15-year-old student
Small but meaningful details stole the spotlight as the Serra Catholic High School community gathered on a football field Thursday night to mourn one of their own. • Fingers gently cupped around hand-held candles, their orange, sometimes-flickering glow cast defiantly against the dark-blue cover of dusk. • The way the...
Family of McKeesport man who died in Allegheny County Jail files wrongful death lawsuit
A lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court claims Allegheny County Jail officials didn’t provide a wheezing inmate who had chronic asthma with his inhaler for up to 30 days. Paul C. Allen, a McKeesport barber and father of three who was supposed to use his inhaler eight times a day,...
