Madasyn Czebiniak stories, Page 10
iPads, headphones reported stolen from Pittsburgh Montessori
Pittsburgh Public Schools police are investigating a reported burglary that occurred at Pittsburgh Montessori in Friendship over the weekend. The school’s principal reported that three iPads, two pairs of headphones and a lantern were stolen, district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said. Pugh said city police were called to the school on...
Police: Drunken driver hit 101 mph with kids in back seat
A Kittanning man previously charged with DUI remained in jail Tuesday after Butler state police say he drove 101 mph while drunk last month in Butler County. Joshua Sol Heigley, 35, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol when troopers clocked him going nearly twice the speed limit...
Pittsburgh police find missing 22-year-old woman
Pittsburgh police said a woman who has been missing since Sunday has been found and returned home safely. Shurontaya “Tay Tay” Festa, 22, was last seen in Oakland. Police said she was located Tuesday. Authorities did not specify where she was found....
Pittsburgh police locate missing 19-year-old man
A missing Hazelwood man has been found. Aubay Germany, 19, was last seen March 24. Pittsburgh police said Germany was found and safely returned home Tuesday. Authorities did not specify where Germany was found....
Tarentum police looking for person accused of breaking into van
Tarentum police are looking for a person accused of breaking into a van last week. Police Chief Bill Vakulick said the incident happened Thursday night or Friday morning in the 600 block of Second Avenue. The van was parked and locked when the suspect broke out the driver’s side window,...
Icy road blamed for fiery 2-vehicle crash in Fawn
Icy road conditions caused a fiery, head-on collision Monday morning in Fawn, state police said. The collision was reported about 6:50 a.m. in the 1200 block of Millerstown Road. Trooper Patrick Carlson of the Kittanning barracks said a southbound pickup on Millerstown Road crossed the center line and collided with...
If convicted, Robert Bowers could face death penalty — but not necessarily executionVideo
Robert Bowers could become the only person from Western Pennsylvania on federal death row if he is convicted and sentenced to death for the mass shooting inside a Squirrel Hill synagogue last year. But with an attorney known for sparing the most notorious killers from the execution chamber, added to...
Police seek man accused of holding woman at gunpoint at Slippery Rock Campgrounds
State police said a Munhall man convicted of third-degree murder and robbery kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint Thursday at the Slippery Rock Campgrounds. She escaped unharmed. John Thomas Oleary, 52, the man accused of kidnapping the woman, remained at large Friday morning. Breaking: State police say this man kidnapped a...
Pittsburgh receives $1 million for improvements to Oakland, South Side Flats
Pittsburgh received $1 million in grants from the state this week to make various improvements in its Oakland and South Side Flats neighborhoods. Improvements in Oakland, which will occur along Bigelow Boulevard between Fifth and Forbes avenues, include new sidewalks, bike lanes, a new and safer pedestrian crossing in the...
Police say New Kensington man wanted on multiple warrants hid crack in SUV
A New Kensington man wanted on multiple warrants now faces additional charges after police reportedly found cocaine on him when he was arrested Wednesday. “That crack’s not mine,” Luther Boyd, 38, told police, according to a criminal complaint. Boyd was arrested after a Lower Burrell patrolman saw him riding in...
Attorney claims police made false statement in search warrant for Pittsburgh Mills mall store
The attorney for a Pittsburgh Mills mall store owner charged with selling counterfeit merchandise has accused a former Frazer police officer of lying in a search warrant that ultimately lead to the criminal proceedings against his client. Attorney Casey White again asked a judge to throw out the charge against...
Bell Township man flown to hospital with severe burns from brush fire
A Bell Township man was flown to a local hospital with severe burns suffered in a brush fire outside his home Wednesday afternoon. The brush fire was reported just before 2:40 p.m. in the 300 block of Bell Point Road, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatch supervisor. Fire Chief...
Lower Burrell councilman on harassment conviction: ‘I will be vindicated’
Lower Burrell Councilman Joseph Grillo denies claims that he harassed his ex-fiancee. Grillo accused Cecelia Sharrock of making false statements before a Turtle Creek district judge as well as in a private criminal complaint she filed against him on charges of harassment and defiant trespass. “I feel that I will...
Judge fines Lower Burrell councilman $600 for harassment, trespassing
A Lower Burrell councilman was found guilty of harassing his ex-fiancee after she said he continued to contact her after she and a police officer told him not to. Cecelia Sharrock testified in a Turtle Creek district court Tuesday that Joseph Grillo even went to the bank where she works...
Allegheny Township to close part of Markle Road because of landslide
Allegheny Township officials are reminding drivers that a section of Markle Road will close Thursday because of a landslide. The road will be closed between Park Road and Pine Run Road, and remain closed until further notice. Traffic will be detoured. The marked detour uses Markle Road, White Cloud Road...
Police: Road rage made Arnold man attack truck with golf club
An Arnold man told police he struck another man’s truck with a weighted golf club this month because the other man cut him off in traffic and slammed on his brakes in front of him, according to a criminal complaint. Theodore Clayton Volkar, 47, admitted that he got out of...
Police: West Deer man who ran from crash was wanted on warrant
A West Deer man told authorities he ran from a two-vehicle crash in which he and three others were injured Sunday because he was wanted on a warrant, according to police. Now Travis Trenton Brewer, 30, faces nearly two dozen additional charges. Police suspect Brewer was high on heroin when...
Beaver County man pleads guilty to robbing New Brighton bank
A Beaver Falls man pleaded guilty in federal court to robbing a New Brighton bank last year. U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said Ernest Dewayne Taylor, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery before United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti. According to Brady, Taylor robbed the Huntington...
Cheswick, Springdale Township a step closer to merging police departmentsVideo
Officials took another another step Thursday night to merge the Springdale Township and Cheswick police departments by July 1. The Springdale Township commissioners voted 4-0 to advertise an ordinance that would consolidate the two departments. Cheswick Council already passed a similar measure. So both municipalities appear on track to have...
Lower Burrell police seek person of interest in thefts from motor vehicles
Lower Burrell police are reminding residents to lock up their vehicles after another rash of break-ins. Detective Sgt. Jason Napier said police received reports that at least five vehicles were broken into on March 14 and March 15. All of the vehicles were left unlocked. The thefts occurred on Chestnut...
Police say New Kensington man shot during struggle with masked gunman
A New Kensington man was shot twice Wednesday when he struggled with a masked man who held a gun to his girlfriend’s head, police said. The shooting happened about 8:30 p.m. in the 800 block of Anderson Street. New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer said the man, 36, told police...
Lower Burrell man accused of naked assault released on bond
A man police say assaulted and robbed a woman while he was naked earlier this month is set to appear in court next week. Robert E. Brown, 48, of Lower Burrell, was released on $5,000 unsecured bond after being arraigned this week by District Judge Cheryl J. Peck-Yakopec in Allegheny...
Man accused in New Kensington drug delivery death caught in Missouri
Federal marshals on Wednesday arrested a Springfield, Mo., man accused of selling and delivering the drugs that police allege killed a New Kensington woman last year. Matthew Covey, 47, is one of three men accused of providing drugs containing heroin and fentanyl that police say killed Shanelle Waugh, 40, on...
McKees Rocks man sentenced to federal probation for Nigerian marriage sham
A McKees Rocks man was sentenced in federal court to one year of probation after his conviction on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit offenses against the United States. U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said Norman Lee McCullough, 59, conspired with two other individuals to...
It’s official: Jason Schaeffer is Leechburg’s new police chief
A police chief is only as good as the community that stands behind him. That’s what Leechburg’s new highest ranking officer says. “People that are willing to report things and talk to the police … I think that’s a really good thing for the community,” police Chief Jason Schaeffer said...

