Justin Vellucci stories, Page 14
Pa. AG charges 7, dismantles Pittsburgh-based retail theft, gun-trafficking ring
Authorities Friday accused a Pittsburgh pawn shop owner of running a retail theft and gun-trafficking ring that bought and resold stolen items including iPhones, electronics and lawnmowers. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office charged Osman Musa and six other people identified as members of a group dubbed the “Six Figure Boys”...
Man, 82, faces trial for exposing himself to kids outside Sewickley ice cream shop
An 82-year-old man facing trial on charges that he exposed himself to children outside a Sewickley ice cream shop was previously sentenced to probation on indecent exposure charges in two separate incidents, court records show. Allegheny County Police last month charged David Whitten of Franklin Park with corruption of minors,...
Upper St. Clair mom wins battle for names of cops who fatally shot her son
For months, Susan Shepherd fought to learn the names of the police officers who fatally shot her mentally ill son in Upper St. Clair so she could sue them. But Baldwin Borough, Bethel Park and Brentwood refused to tell her who pulled the trigger on Jan. 7 when members of...
‘Unity we all need’: Jews, allies commemorate 1-year mark of Hamas attacks
Michal Alon’s voice shook just once Monday evening as she described how she found herself, a year ago, in a military base with a terrorist. The nurse and mother was tending to a wounded Israeli watchtower guard in Zikim, a base that sits about a half-mile from Israel’s border with...
‘I’ve never prayed as much’: The world changed on Oct. 7, and so did Rona Kaufman
When Hamas militants blitzed Israel one year ago today, Rona Kaufman immediately feared for her daughter, Naomi Kitchen. Kitchen had traded Pittsburgh for Israel in 2021. Now, as a 21-year-old soldier in Israel’s military, she was 6,000 miles from home, helping repel an armed incursion against a base in the...
‘41,000 Ahmeds’: Gaza’s death toll ripples through the Pittsburgh region
One June morning, near 4 a.m. Pittsburgh time, Ahmed Arafat got a text from his sister in Palestine’s Gaza Strip. It was 11 a.m. there. Israeli tanks were approaching Nuseirat, a refugee camp near where her family was sheltered. “I’m going to die,” she texted Arafat. “Please take care of...
Man fatally shot multiple times in Homewood
A man was killed Friday night after being shot multiple times in Homewood, authorities said. Pittsburgh police said they responded to the 7400 block of Race Street in the East End neighborhood about 9:30 p.m after receiving a 12-round alert from the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system. They found a man...
Vendors, crowd of hundreds closes farmers market season in Lower Burrell
For Victoria Krzywda, the Lower Burrell Farmers Market comes down to the hot sauce. On Saturday, the Leechburg resident perused 3 Shiba Farm’s myriad Mason jars and glass bottles of freshly brined pickles, peppers and relishes — not to mention the spiciest hot sauce Krzywda could find: the Arnold business’...
Police arrest 2 in brutal beating of man in Downtown Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh police have arrested two teens in connection with a vicious beating of a man by about eight people in the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. Police said the incident, which occurred about 9 p.m. at the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Stanwix Street and was filmed by...
Allegheny County Executive backs Jewish students at Pitt in wake of recent antisemitic incidents
Allegheny County’s top elected official on Wednesday told Jewish students rattled by a recent spate of antisemitic acts at and near University of Pittsburgh’s campus that she will work to ensure they feel safe in Oakland. County Executive Sara Innamorato met for 45 minutes with Jewish community leaders and interacted...
Police, FBI probe reported antisemitic attack on Jewish Pitt student
The FBI and Pittsburgh police are investigating an off-campus attack early Friday on a Jewish student at the University of Pittsburgh by a group of six to eight men who used antisemitic language, authorities said. Pitt confirmed Friday evening that the victim, who suffered a bruised lip and was not...
Police seek other alleged victims of teen charged with sexual crimes in Frick Park
Pittsburgh police are investigating whether a teen charged with sex crimes against two women in Frick Park might have other alleged victims. Police arrested Isaiah Rivers, 19, of Penn Hills on Sunday and charged him with sexually assaulting one woman and exposing himself to another. A search of Rivers’ cell...
Pittsburgh-area officials testify that communications problems plagued them during Trump rally shooting
As a congressional task force hearing Thursday dissected the security breakdowns that plagued Donald Trump’s July rally in Butler County, one member worried about the future. “We have (former) President Donald Trump going back to Butler in the next few days,” said U.S. Rep. Lou Correa, a California Democrat. “Are...
‘Michael did it’: Police say parents blame son for severely beating them in Crafton home
A Crafton man beat his parents so severely that he caused brain bleeds and broke one of their skulls before waiting with bloody hands and clothing to be arrested in the backyard of the home they all shared, police said. Two victims were rushed in critical condition to UPMC Mercy...
Munhall woman who died in Allegheny County Jail was brought there on drug charges
Authorities on Wednesday identified the woman who died last weekend in the Allegheny County Jail as a Munhall resident, but details remain sparse about the circumstances surrounding her death. Tracey Hickey, 53, died in the jail’s intake section in Downtown Pittsburgh at 7:56 a.m. Saturday, according to the Allegheny County...
Police charge couple in fatal shooting after Pittsburgh roommates argue over messy house
An argument Monday between roommates over a messy house in Pittsburgh turned deadly, police said. When the squabble was over inside the South Side Slopes home, Eddie Kimber was fatally shot and two people were under arrest. Police charged one of the roommates, Destiny Jenkins, 23, and her boyfriend, Lee...
Former Woodland Hills football standout dies in Larimer shooting
A man who was fatally shot late Monday in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood was a Woodland Hills High School football standout and high honor roll student who went on to the gridiron at a Baltimore university. Gavin Yarbough, 21, of Braddock Hills was shot multiple times and taken to UPMC Presbyterian...
McKeesport woman names husband as suspect in her own killing
At 5:06 a.m. Saturday, a McKeesport man called 911 and told police someone outside had shot his wife. When police arrived at his apartment, he told them she shot herself. But, police said, before his wife died in a nearby hospital an hour later, she fingered her husband as the...
DA drops charge in sword attack at Pittsburgh hotel during furry convention
The prosecution Monday withdrew its case against a South Carolina man accused of a sword attack in a Pittsburgh hotel room this summer while he was in town for the annual Anthrocon convention. Police charged Jake O’Leary, 26, of Greenville, S.C., with aggravated assault after the July incident at the...
Hispanic heritage celebrated at Greensburg art museum as population in region jumps
When Carolina Loyola-Garcia left her native Chile some 27 years ago to study art in Pittsburgh, about 4,000 Hispanic men and women, about 1% of the city’s population, called the Steel City home. “There was no flamenco here — and I wanted to dance,” Loyola-Garcia said with a laugh, sweating...
Coroner: Baby in Bloomfield beating has died
The 4-month-old infant a Bloomfield man was arrested for beating into “grave condition” has died, authorities confirmed Sunday. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the child as Micaiah Williams. Pittsburgh police were dispatched around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday to West Penn Hospital, where Micaiah was being treated for multiple...
1 dead after McKees Rocks shooting
A Castle Shannon man was killed in a shooting Saturday night in McKees Rocks, authorities said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Sunday identified the victim as William Hopkins, 34. Police said they were dispatched to the 300 block of Ella Street at 10:38 p.m. First responders found Hopkins...
Hiding behind the badge: Police often shield officers’ names, details in fatal encounters
Christopher Shepherd was the first to die. SWAT officers fatally shot him in January, a mentally ill man in crisis in the affluent suburb of Upper St. Clair. Austyn Cousins was next, shot dead later that month by Pittsburgh police as he reached into his trunk, which held guns. In...
Pittsburgh police chief explains transfers of motorcycle supervisors in Trump rally security flap
Pittsburgh’s police chief said Thursday that a lieutenant overstepped his authority when he approved at least a dozen members of the city force’s motorcycle unit to provide security at the Butler County rally at which former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt. Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto said he...
North Huntingdon man who drove school buses accused of sharing nude pics with teen
A North Huntingdon man who worked as a bus driver and was a police chaplain is accused of exchanging nude photos with a student he drove to school in an effort to groom the 17-year-old Duquesne boy, police said. Michael F. Singer, 57, told police he shared sexually explicit photos...
