Justin Vellucci stories, Page 31
Pittsburgh police issue charges in hit-and-run that killed 66-year-old pedestrian
Pittsburgh police issued an arrest warrant Tuesday in connection with an April 11 hit-and-run that killed a Pittsburgh pedestrian. Joseph Betha, 54, of Wilkinsburg has been charged with homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death, accidents involving death while not property licensed, and involuntary manslaughter, police spokesperson Cara Cruz said. It...
TSA confiscates 26th gun of year at Pittsburgh airport, matching last year’s total
An Indiana County man was stopped from carrying a handgun onto a Pittsburgh International Airport flight Monday, bringing the total number of firearms confiscated there since January to 26, matching 2022’s figure, officials said. Transportation Security Administration officers detected the .380 caliber gun in the man’s backpack, TSA spokesperson Lisa...
Another tiki boat captain saves person from drowning in Pittsburgh river
A tiki boat captain saved a woman from drowning in the Monongahela River near Point State Park on Saturday, just one month after another tiki boat captain fished a drowning boy out of the Allegheny. Captain Robb Rusiewicz, who saved the unidentified woman shortly after 10 a.m., was modest in...
Pittsburgh police avert nightclub shooting during patrol
A group of quick-thinking Pittsburgh police officers thwarted a nightclub shooting Sunday at a Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar intersection. Two officers were on surveillance around 5 a.m. outside the nightclub known as Batcave, or just The Cave, near the intersection of Lincoln and Lemington avenues. They said that they spotted a man, later...
Allegheny County Jail corrections officer arrested in connection with inmate contraband
It started at summer’s peak with a fight in an Allegheny County Jail day-room and unraveled Friday into charges alleging a corrections officer helped plant drugs on an inmate. That officer, Scott Stawiarski, 31, of North Fayette, was charged Friday — and indefinitely suspended from his job without pay —...
Allegheny County Police seeking public’s help to find Munhall shooter
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man shot Friday morning in Munhall as Isaac Love. Love, 31, of Homestead, was pronounced dead at 9:29 a.m., the medical examiner said. Allegheny County Police said they responded to the 1800 block of McClure Street just before 8:30 a.m. after receiving...
Pittsburgh journalist sues Allegheny County over jail ‘gag order’ policies
A Pittsburgh journalist sued Allegheny County in federal court Thursday, claiming a county jail “gag order” violates jail staff’s First Amendment free-speech rights, as well as the press-freedom rights of journalists covering jail issues. The “gag order,” which actually is a combination of multiple county Bureau of Corrections policies, dictates...
Shaler police identify man found dead in Allegheny River
Shaler police said the man they found dead Thursday morning in the Allegheny River was a missing township resident suffering from dementia. Mark Massimiani, 60, was found in the river near the 31st Street Bridge by a rowing group, Shaler police Chief J. Sean Frank said. Massimiani, who was last...
Police identify 2 drivers killed in head-on crash in Butler County
State police have released the names of two drivers killed in a Butler County head-on crash Wednesday morning. Hayden Ernest, 19, was driving northbound on Oneida Valley Road in Oakland Township around 6:15 a.m. when he crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into a car driven by Jacqueline Rock,...
W.Va. man killed in Oakland hit-and-run ‘found the beauty in things,’ family recalls
James Jerry “J.J.” Vas-Patterson wasn’t born into an easy life. After his father died unexpectedly on Sept. 7, 2010, when Vas-Patterson was just 10 years old, he and his younger brothers entered foster care, family members said Wednesday. Later, he added Patterson to his last name after being adopted by...
4 injured in Butler County crash
Four people were hospitalized in Butler County early Wednesday when state police said a woman drove her SUV into oncoming traffic and overturned the vehicle, causing a second driver to swerve into an embankment to avoid her. Sara Brown, 20, of Butler, was driving southbound on Oneida Valley Road near...
Safety tips on natural gas usage and home inspections
Keeping a home fueled by natural gas safe is pretty simple, said Dennis Caveglia, who has operated Valley Plumbing & Heating in his native Leechburg for 40 years. Caveglia, like many working with natural gas, wouldn’t hypothesize about what caused the Plum house explosion Saturday morning that killed six people...
Hit-and-run victim found in middle of Oakland road identified
James Jerry Vas-Patterson, 23, was the fatal hit-and-run victim found dead Sunday night in Oakland, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office announced Tuesday. Vas-Patterson, whose home address is unknown, was found by Pittsburgh police officers just before 10 p.m. in the middle of the road in the 2300 block of...
Man charged in connection with rape in McKeesport apartment complex
A Wilkinsburg man accused of raping a woman in the hallway of a McKeesport apartment complex is headed to Common Pleas court. McKeesport police charged Ian Eric Payne, 34, with rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault without consent, and indecent assault/forcible compulsion in July, court records show. Those charges were...
Pittsburgh man accused of robbing North Side bank
A Pittsburgh man was arrested Monday for robbing a bank on the city’s North Side, which authorities said was the second area bank he robbed in just two weeks. Dwayne Russell Harvey, 55, entered the Citizens Bank at 106 Isabella St. — near the Andy Warhol Museum on the North...
Pitcairn man attacks neighbor with hammer, police say
A Pitcairn man is behind bars after beating a neighbor with a hammer late Thursday, authorities said. William Alan Jackson, 42, was charged Friday with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and making terroristic threats, court records show. Police said they took Jackson, after a mental health evaluation,...
North Side father, son sentenced in shooting that injured 2
A Pittsburgh tow-truck driver is going to prison, and his son is getting probation after 18 months in Allegheny County Jail, for their roles in a February 2022 shooting that injured two people. Common Pleas Judge Bruce R. Beemer on Thursday sentenced Kurt Ianuzzo, 53, of Pittsburgh’s North Side, to...
Bridgeville man surrenders in Fort Pitt Bridge ‘street takeover’ stunt
A Bridgeville man surrendered to Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies at a Downtown courthouse around 8 a.m. Friday, weeks after police charged him for his role in a July “street takeover” stunt on the Fort Pitt Bridge. Jason Stotlemyer, 31, was the first person charged in connection with the July 21...
2nd man charged in connection with February fatal shooting in Pittsburgh’s North Side
Pittsburgh police have arrested a second man in connection with a fatal shooting in February in the city’s North Side. Homicide detectives obtained an arrest warrant Tuesday for Demetrius Caligiuri, whose age and hometown were unavailable, in the killing of Rasul Aquil, police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. U.S. Marshals joined...
Feds arrest white supremacist over Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial threats
A self-proclaimed “reverend” in the white supremacist movement is behind bars and charged with threatening Jews and targeting witnesses and jurors during the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial. Hardy Carroll Lloyd, 47, the son of a Shadyside doctor, was arrested at his Follansbee, W.Va., home Thursday on federal charges of obstruction...
Domestic violence charges withdrawn against DA Zappala’s son
State prosecutors Thursday morning withdrew domestic violence charges against the son of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., court records show. Ohio Township police charged Stephen John Zappala, 31, of Ben Avon Heights, with simple assault and harassment on July 23, court records show. He was arraigned and...
Former Pittsburgh animal control officer revives lawsuit over cruelty charges
A former Pittsburgh animal control officer is fighting back against animal cruelty claims he said cost him his job and his reputation. James Genco III, 48, of Pittsburgh, filed an amended lawsuit this week in federal court against three people whose comments led to animal cruelty charges being filed against...
Wooden boxes stocked with food, supplies placed in Wilkinsburg to aid underserved residents
A wooden box stands at the corner of Wilkinsburg’s Laketon Road and Douglas Drive. Behind a purple door adorned with the expression “Explore your full potential” are shelves stocked with everything from nonperishables such as boxed macaroni and cheese, long-grain rice and canned corn to jars of baby food, socks...
Jewish youth athletes from Pittsburgh competing in Olympic-style event in Florida
Sylvie Bails will enter her freshman year this fall at Taylor Allderdice High School in her native Squirrel Hill. But the 14-year-old athlete already has her eyes set further on the horizon. “I would love to play college soccer — that’s definitely a goal,” said Sylvie, who has played soccer...
Half a year after derailment, East Palestine’s fight to recover continues
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Kat Smith has seen her share of ups and downs this year. In February, days after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine and a controlled chemical burn spewed plumes of smoke into the sky, doctors diagnosed Smith with bronchitis because of toxin exposure. When...
