Justin Vellucci stories, Page 32
Former Pittsburgh police chief dead at 81
Former Pittsburgh police Chief Earl Buford Jr. has died. Buford, who led the city force from 1992 to 1995 and was just the second minority to hold the top post, died July 25, according to police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said Monday. Buford was 81. Born on April 9, 1942, in...
Squirrel Hill holds complicated feelings about death penalty for synagogue shooter
Many in Squirrel Hill hate Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers. But their feelings about how to punish him as his federal trial nears a conclusion are as unique as the individuals themselves. Lori Kline grew up in this tree-shaded East End neighborhood, where roughly half the residents are Jewish and...
Dormont home health aide sexually assaulted Pittsburgh woman with physical disabilities, police say
A Pittsburgh woman with physical disabilities was sexually assaulted by her aide, according to city police. Police have charged the aide, Vanessa C. Callender, 30, of Dormont, with one felony count of institutional sexual assault, court records show. Callender was arraigned Friday and District Judge Anthony M. Ceoffe set her...
Police crackdown in Downtown Pittsburgh results in more arrests for drugs, prostitution
To passersby, it might have appeared innocent — just a group of Pittsburghers smoking Downtown. But Pittsburgh police suspected otherwise. Myriah Morris, a 22-year-old Penn Hills woman with dyed-blue hair, was sitting with several people on a Mellon Square Park wall Saturday night. Though she didn’t smoke, she kept taking...
GOP Allegheny County Executive candidate Joe Rockey picks up law enforcement endorsements
Allegheny County Executive candidate Joe Rockey said Thursday that, if elected, he would boost the number of county police, reopen a county juvenile detention center, and provide more oversight of the county jail. Rockey, a Republican from Ohio Township, laid out those and other plans to address what he called...
Jail inmate who died Sunday was accused of sexually assaulting nurse
A McKeesport man who died in Allegheny County Jail on Sunday was accused of sexually assaulting an Allegheny General Hospital nurse in March. Douglas Bonomo, 59, solicited sex from the nurse, who police did not name, when she entered the room where she attempted to give him IV medication around...
Charges filed in Downtown Pittsburgh hotel attack
Pittsburgh police arrested a man who they say viciously attacked another man this week in a Downtown hotel elevator. Police charged Heiko Lamar Joseph Calhoun, 26, who is homeless, with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, robbery and recklessly endangering another person, court records show. Calhoun was arraigned Tuesday and remains in...
Pittsburgh woman searches for wedding dress lost when dry cleaner closed
A Squirrel Hill woman wants her wedding dress back. Nicole Vera Delgado, a Louisiana native who moved to Pittsburgh five years ago, ignored the horror stories she’d heard about dry cleaners losing or mangling wedding dresses. Last August, she gave her strapless, A-line wedding dress, complete with beading and lace...
Glassport man pleads guilty to killing man in high-speed crash in North Versailles
A Glassport man who was driving nearly 100 mph last year when he crashed into a car in North Versailles, killing the driver, pleaded guilty Tuesday to homicide by vehicle and other charges, authorities said. Shamar Allyn Roach, 25, was driving a van about 95 mph when the crash happened...
Allegheny County Jail inmate who died over the weekend identified
A man who died in Allegheny County Jail over the weekend was identified Tuesday as Douglas Bonomo, 59, of McKeesport. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet provided a cause or manner of death. Bonomo, an inmate at the jail, was pronounced dead by paramedics around 7:20 a.m....
DA Zappala’s son charged with assault in connection with alleged domestic dispute
The son of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. has been arrested in connection with a domestic incident, police said. Stephen John Zappala, 31, of Ben Avon Heights, was charged by Ohio Township police Sunday with simple assault and harassment, court records show. He was arraigned early Monday...
Man nearly drowns in Wilkins motel pool
A man nearly drowned in a Wilkins Township motel pool Monday, officials said. First responders found the man, an adult “in his 30s,” unresponsive in the pool at a Rodi Road motel, police confirmed. Authorities did not release his name. “This was not a suspicious incident, and appears to be...
Fort Pitt Bridge ‘street takeover’ stunt leads to another arrest
A social media influencer has become the second person arrested in the aftermath of Friday’s Fort Pitt Bridge street takeover, police said. State police on Monday charged Graham Carvins Liberal, 24, of Sunrise, Fla. with rioting, recklessly endangering another person, disorderly conduct and being a pedestrian walking on a highway,...
McKees Rocks mom pleads guilty to shooting rifle at people who fought with her daughter
A McKees Rock woman, accused of opening fire with a rifle on three people who got into a fight with her daughter at a Pittsburgh bar, has pleaded guilty in the case to lesser charges. Artiella G. Bennett, 43, pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated assault and two counts of recklessly...
Norfolk Southern to give Beaver County border town $660K in wake of East Palestine trail derailment
Railway giant Norfolk Southern will give Darlington Township, Beaver County, $660,000 for “community relief” in the wake of the Feb. 3 train derailment that sent plumes of toxic chemicals into skies on the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Monday. It also has awarded $1 million to a Pittsburgh foundation...
Pedestrian hospitalized after elderly driver hits her on Pittsburgh sidewalk
A pedestrian was injured in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon when an elderly driver lost control of their vehicle and struck the woman on the sidewalk. Police, firefighters and EMS responded at about 1:30 p.m. to the 6300 block of Penn Avenue in East Liberty, not far from the Bakery Square...
Trafford man arrested at Pittsburgh airport in car stolen out of Altoona
Dozens of “high-end performance vehicles” trekked to Pittsburgh International Airport to race in the dead of night Thursday — and police said they apprehended a Westmoreland County man driving a stolen car. Allegheny County police said officers saw a number of cars gathering at the airport’s public arrivals curb around...
2 teens captured after carjacking Uber driver in Pittsburgh, police say
A Homewood teen cut off his probation ankle monitor and joined a second teen to carjack an Uber driver early Thursday, before leading Pittsburgh police on a high-speed chase that ended in Penn Hills with their capture, officials said. Police charged Patrick Beatty, 16, with robbery of a motor vehicle,...
Murders down this year in Pittsburgh, many U.S. cities, report says
Pittsburgh’s homicide rate is down in 2023 but still higher than its pre-pandemic levels, a trend mirrored in violent crime rates in 37 U.S. cities, according to a report from the Council on Criminal Justice. Homicides in the city plunged 34% in the first half of 2023, compared to the...
Court releases family photos of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims
There were more than 11 victims when a gunman attacked congregants inside the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Oct. 27, 2018. Families and friends of those killed. Injured congregants. Police officers and first responders. This week, as the trial entered its sentencing phase, government prosecutors told their...
Allegheny County sheriff makes traffic stop, confiscates drugs
You can’t say he’s not a hands-on boss. Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus saw a gray Nissan Sentra traveling erratically in Pittsburgh’s North Hills Tuesday afternoon, after he left his job at the county courthouse for the day. The driver ran a red light at the intersection of Lowries Run...
‘It all happened so fast’: Tiki boat captain saves boy in Allegheny River
All it took was a second. On a sunny summer afternoon, Shaler native Jason Ruhle was halfway through a two-hour cruise around the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers, captaining 12 passengers on two tiki boats down the Allegheny River. He docked about 4:30 p.m. July 8 at Point State Park....
Pittsburgh man awaiting sentencing on burglary, assault convictions now faces child rape charges
A Pittsburgh man awaiting sentencing on burglary and assault convictions has been ordered to stand trial on allegations that he raped a 9-year-old girl. Brandon West, 30, was ordered Thursday to stand trial on charges of rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, indecent assault of a...
Dismissal of cruelty charges against former Pittsburgh animal control officer draws criticism
A Pittsburgh police officer and an animal rights activist say they are disturbed by a district judge’s decision to throw out animal cruelty charges against a former city animal control officer. District Judge James A. Motznik dismissed all four charges against James Genco III, 48, during a July 6 preliminary...
Lawsuit: Bad cellphone data led to botched raid of Monroeville home
A family whose Monroeville home was stormed by Pittsburgh SWAT officers in January is suing the city in federal court, claiming the violent raid violated their civil rights. The family said in the lawsuit that at least 20 officers carrying machine guns raided their Paulson Avenue home Jan. 22, scaring...
