Justin Vellucci stories, Page 2
Dog abandoned in filthy apartment in Rostraver dies; 2 women charged
Authorities have charged two women with animal cruelty after a maintenance worker found a “lifeless and barely breathing” dog abandoned in a feces-covered Rostraver apartment in January. The dog, a shih tzu, was later euthanized after an animal hospital was unable to treat it due to its poor health. Skylar...
Jeannette native Jasmine Jones returns home with Olympic bronze
Jasmine Jones, the Jeannette native who competed in this year’s Winter Olympics in Italy, remembers the moment a childhood dream 15 years in the making came true. Jones, 29, was on her first Olympic journey last month with the U.S. women’s bobsled team. German athletes were dominating the first three...
From weave poles to world stage: Agility dogs vie in Latrobe for European Open
As a wily border collie named Rose zipped above a fake-grass-covered ring in Latrobe on Saturday, the 6-year-old agility competitor appeared to rarely touch the ground as she glided through an obstacle-laden, 230-yard course. She cleared 2-foot-tall hurdles without hesitation. It took her about 4 seconds to effortlessly zigzag between...
Police: Woman rammed cruiser, nearly struck police dog before North Side crash
A Pittsburgh woman was arrested Friday after repeatedly ramming a police cruiser, nearly striking a police dog and leading authorities on a car chase from McKees Rocks to Pittsburgh’s North Side. McKees Rocks police said they were dispatched around 6 p.m. for a disturbance on Washington Street. A resident called...
Medical examiner: Woman found dead in Perry North home died of ‘homicidal violence’
A woman’s death in December that Pittsburgh police deemed “suspicious” has been ruled a homicide. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office late Friday said Michelle Sturdivant was killed as a result of “homicidal violence with multiple blunt force injuries and extensive burns.” First responders found the Pittsburgh woman, 44, unconscious...
Police investigate reported climb of Gulf Tower in Downtown Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh police said Friday they launched an investigation after officers detained — but did not arrest — a person who reportedly scaled the Downtown skyscraper that reigned for 40 years as Pennsylvania’s tallest building. A man and a woman, who authorities did not name, were involved in a “reported incident”...
Peters Township teen charged in sextortion scheme has counts reduced in deal with DA
Attorneys and prosecutors Friday agreed to drop 267 charges against a Peters Township High School senior accused of soliciting and collecting nude and pornographic images and videos of teenage boys. Zachariah A. Meyers, 18, still faces 67 criminal counts in the alleged catfishing and sextortion scheme following a preliminary hearing...
Challengers test Summer Lee’s grip on congressional seat in Trump-era midterms
A popular and polarizing Democratic congresswoman is staking her reelection bid on her record in a midterm election seen by many as a referendum on President Donald Trump. While Beltway experts say this year’s race in Pennsylvania’s 12th District is Rep. Summer Lee’s to lose, the progressive firebrand from Swissvale...
3 men face homicide charges in Penn Hills shooting death
Police have arrested three men in the 2024 fatal shooting of a 21-year-old Penn Hills man. Allegheny County Police on Thursday afternoon said they charged Trevor Twyman, 23, of Turtle Creek; Kelshon Lovelace, 24, of Wilkinsburg; and Lemoyne Williams, 18, of Monroeville, in the Dec. 5, 2024, shooting death of...
‘I probably won’t survive’: Pittsburgh firefighters train for deadly flashoversVideo
Pittsburgh fire Capt. Brian Tarbuck watched smoke billow from a rust-red shipping container as he described how the first responders training inside could spot the telltale signs of an impending “flashover” — the deadly near-simultaneous ignition of all combustible materials in an enclosed space. When room temperatures top 1,000 degrees,...
Mt. Oliver cop rear-ends SUV with child inside on Route 51
Danielle Staub regularly takes the same left turn off southbound Route 51 when leaving her friend’s house in Pittsburgh’s Overbrook neighborhood. Staub’s usually uneventful route turned traumatic early Monday when a marked Mt. Oliver police car smashed into her SUV from behind as her 8-year-old daughter sat in the back....
Downtown Pittsburgh assault near Kaufmann’s clock leads to 3 arrests
Police on Wednesday arrested three of four suspects charged with punching and kicking a man dozens of times earlier this month while beating him in Downtown Pittsburgh near the landmark Kaufmann’s clock. The three — Shakeem Griffey, 31, of Pittsburgh; Mateke Katzbeck, 26, of Pittsburgh; and Caleb Mitchell, 23, of...
Mt. Washington’s PJ McArdle Roadway reopens after rockfall
Pittsburgh’s PJ McArdle Roadway reopened Wednesday afternoon less than five hours after city officials closed it when rocks fell from a Mt. Washington hillside. Workers from multiple Pittsburgh departments responded to the scene around 9:15 a.m. following a report of fallen rocks, said Molly Onufer, a spokeswoman for Mayor Corey...
Wilkinsburg man to face trial on charges he held people at gunpoint in Duquesne home
A Wilkinsburg man is facing trial after police said he held a group of people captive at gunpoint at a Duquesne home in December — just days after being released from jail for a separate assault. During a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Duquesne, a district judge held 20 charges against...
Driver waives hearing, faces trial in fiery wrong-way crash on Parkway West
A man is headed to trial on charges that he was drunk in October when he drove his SUV into oncoming Parkway West traffic and struck a second vehicle before both cars burst into flames. Tristan Michael Larson, 23, of Moon on Tuesday waived his preliminary hearing on two DUI...
‘Electric personality’: Jesse Jackson left lasting impressions in Pittsburgh
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights icon who died Tuesday, stumped in Pittsburgh during his presidential runs in 1984 and 1988, and returned a generation later to rally the city behind President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. But one retired city police officer remembered Jackson for a far more humble...
Jason Lando sworn in as Pittsburgh police chief
A childhood dream culminated Friday amid fanfare, a few jokes and a City Council chamber packed with a who’s-who of Pittsburgh public safety. Jason Lando, once a Pittsburgh boy who dreamed of becoming a city cop, raised his right hand before a standing-room-only Downtown audience as a judge swore him...
Pittsburgh police officer placed on leave after bar fight
A Pittsburgh police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave after a fight was reported at an area bar. The police bureau’s command staff “was made aware of an altercation in a bar outside of the city” that involved multiple off-duty police officers, Cara Cruz, a police spokeswoman, said...
Fatal crash ends search for suspect in McKees Rocks shooting
A suspect in a weekend shooting in McKees Rocks was found dead Monday after a car crash in nearby Kennedy. Allegheny County Police said they identified Edward Sparrow, 22, a suspect in a Saturday night shooting that critically injured a woman in the 100 block of McKees Rocks’ Jane Street....
79 stolen guns, 8 teens arrested, more than 1,400 charges
Authorities have arrested eight teenagers they say stole dozens of guns in “smash-and-grab” robberies at Pittsburgh-area gun shops last year — weapons later linked to multiple shootings, including the death of a 7-year-old boy. The suspects, seven of them juveniles, used stolen cars to travel between break-ins at gun shops...
‘She had a presence’: Fashionistas recall model Jacinta Stevens, who died in Monongahela River crash
The Pittsburgh fashion industry is mourning Jacinta Stevens, a promising model who was killed last week when her car crashed into the icy Monongahela River. North Hills fashion designer Eva Dixon will always remember the 31-year-old mother of two in a single outfit: the striking, emerald halter-top gown Dixon designed...
Shelter from the storm: Pittsburgh-area homeless community finds relief from brutal weather
A Greyhound bus dropped Drezon “Dre” Pankey in Downtown Pittsburgh two weeks before a winter storm shut down the city with 14 inches of snow. Born in Ohio and raised in Florida, the former high school football running back knew no one here. He carried everything he owned, including a...
Pedestrian hit by bus in Oakland ‘up and walking’
A 21-year-old pedestrian who was struck by a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus in Oakland Monday night is “up and walking” and expected to be released from the hospital Tuesday, a transit agency spokesman said. First responders took the woman, who authorities have not named, to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in critical...
Veteran prosecutor who helmed Pittsburgh synagogue shooting case named U.S. Attorney for Western Pa.
A prosecutor who helped convict the gunman now on death row for fatally shooting 11 congregants in a Squirrel Hill synagogue in 2018 is officially at the helm of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh. U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi has appointed longtime prosecutor Troy Rivetti as U.S. Attorney for...
‘We’re devastated’: Jury’s acquittal in Pittsburgh killing enrages victim’s mother
A jury has acquitted a Hill District man who faced homicide charges after opening fire during a 2022 shootout between rival gangs on the North Side that left three people dead. Jaylone Hines, 25, was found not guilty last week on multiple homicide, attempted homicide and aggravated assault charges in...
