Justin Vellucci stories, Page 22
Woman’s hit-and-run death raises questions about Pittsburgh police policy
Twelve minutes before a car struck and killed Faye McCoy on the West End Bridge last month, she was talking to Pittsburgh police officers nearby. It was almost 3 a.m. on Jan. 27, and police had just arrested McCoy’s friend for drunken driving after the car they were in struck...
Animal welfare groups warn pausing city spay/neuter program will lead to more homeless cats
Jackie Cafaro works day and night to rescue cats left abandoned on Pittsburgh streets. She’s developed Catcalls Rescue, the nonprofit she co-founded in 2021, into an operation that saves, spays or neuters and puts up for adoption 40 to 60 cats a month — with the help of about 30...
South Fayette man heads to trial on charges he filmed sex with girl
A South Fayette man is headed to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on charges that he had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl and used “multiple iPhones” to film the pair having sex, court records show. Matthew Alexander Trax, 24, allegedly had sex several times with the girl, including...
Pittsburgh halts free spay/neuter program after scam by suburban pet owners, officials say
Suburban pet owners, some with designer dogs, faked their addresses to access free, taxpayer-subsidized spay and neuter services meant for use by Pittsburgh residents, the city said Tuesday, as it announced an abrupt pause to the program. The suburbanites were using city addresses of friends and family members to get...
Bethel Park McDonald’s franchisee sued over sex assault by manager settles with teen victim for $4.35M
A $4.35 million settlement announced Monday for a former McDonald’s employee who was sexually assaulted at age 14 at her Bethel Park workplace by her manager, a registered sex offender, is one of multiple legal actions embroiling the Pittsburgh-area franchisee. The franchisee — Rice Enterprises, a Baldwin Borough-based company that...
$2.2M fine is latest entry in Clairton’s air pollution history
Melanie Meade monitors plumes of pollution. Her hilltop home overlooks Clairton Coke Works, the largest coke-manufacturing facility in North America — and Allegheny County’s top source of air pollution. From that tree-dotted perch, Meade uses her iPhone almost daily to photograph emissions spewing from the 123-year-old plant’s coke ovens. Then...
‘This is what money smells like:’ $2.2M fine is latest entry in Clairton’s air pollution history
Melanie Meade monitors plumes of pollution. Her hilltop home overlooks Clairton Coke Works, the largest coke-manufacturing facility in North America — and Allegheny County’s top source of air pollution. From that tree-dotted perch, Meade uses her iPhone almost daily to photograph emissions spewing from the 123-year-old plant’s coke ovens. Then...
Duquesne woman to stand trial on charges of killing infant son
A Duquesne woman who police say tried to blame her infant son’s death on her 3-year-old daughter will face trial on charges that she killed the baby during a night of drinking. Alisha L. Parker, 26, was held for court Friday on homicide and child endangerment charges after a preliminary...
Jim Rogers’ family, public attend Homewood video screening of man’s fatal encounter with Pittsburgh police
Myrtle and Billy Joe Jordan weren’t ready Wednesday to watch their nephew die. The Point Breeze couple last heard from Jim Rogers, who vacationed with them as a boy, a few days before his fatal encounter with Pittsburgh police on Bloomfield’s Harriet Street on Oct. 13, 2021. Rogers, who struggled...
Man fatally struck by vehicle in Strip District identified
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified Thomas F. Sunseri, 56, of Pittsburgh, as the pedestrian killed Jan. 24 after being struck by a vehicle in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Sunseri died at 8:22 p.m. on Jan. 24 in an area hospital following the incident, the medical examiner said. Sunseri...
Man shot in Brentwood, police seek suspect
One man was injured and another man was being sought as a suspect after a shooting Wednesday morning in Brentwood. Brentwood police were dispatched to the shooting at about 9 a.m. in the 100 block of Hillson Avenue, Allegheny County Police spokesman Jim Madalinsky said. First responders found the man,...
Jim Rogers Taser case did not merit homicide charge, Zappala says
A Pittsburgh police officer was “wrong” but didn’t commit homicide when he repeatedly shocked a homeless man with a Taser, which preceded the man’s death, the officer’s termination, and a $8 million civil lawsuit settlement with the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said Tuesday....
DA files criminal charges against Century III, calls former mall a ‘monument to blight’
The owners of the blighted Century III Mall were charged Tuesday in a move by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala to seize ownership and demolish the once-mighty 1.3-million-square-foot building in West Mifflin. The district attorney’s office charged Century III Mall Pa. LLC with causing or risking a catastrophe, a...
Tarentum man pleads no contest in Route 28 fatal crash
A 79-year-old Tarentum man faces up to five years in prison for killing his front-seat passenger in a single-car crash on Route 28 in 2021. Frederick Fattman pleaded no contest Monday to involuntary manslaughter in front of Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Satler, his attorney, Alexander Lindsay, told TribLive. The plea...
Driver to stand trial in fatal ‘drag-racing’ crash that killed Serra Catholic student
It took just two minutes and 18 seconds. A crowded Pittsburgh courtroom fell silent Friday as dash cam footage — time-stamped two seconds after 7:22 a.m. Sept. 20 — showed school van driver Richard Alan Maleski waiting at a stop sign and preparing to enter the intersection at Third Street...
Armed guards to patrol Diocese of Pittsburgh schools
Four security supervisors and six armed guards soon will patrol Catholic schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, a move slated to kickstart plans to modernize security for the 13,000-student community, diocesan officials announced Thursday. The supervisors, who the diocese hired Jan. 3, will be assigned to four zones, three of...
Survivors, activists join Pittsburgh Mayor Gainey for Downtown ceremony that calls to stem gun violence
It took Gina Pelusi’s mother, Ruthanne, a music teacher, at the front door of her home on Feb. 6, 2014. On Aug. 5, 2008, it came for Vaughn Rivers’ brother, Anthony, on a Garfield Street after his basketball team had been crowned Connie Hawkins League champs. In 1993, Geraldine Massey...
Patient charged with attacking Pittsburgh medics in ambulance melee
A North Side man has been charged with attacking two Pittsburgh paramedics treating him inside an ambulance after he was resuscitated on a Downtown sidewalk. Mark Nixon, 45, of Perry South, was found unconscious near Wood Street and Third Avenue around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint in...
Authorities arrest Pittsburgh homicide suspect in Atlanta
A Pittsburgh man wanted in the June 25 fatal shooting of a bicyclist on the North Side has been apprehended in Georgia. Medford Taylor, 56, was taken into custody Thursday in Atlanta following an investigation by Pittsburgh police, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. announced Tuesday. Taylor was...
Firefighters injured in Homestead blaze leave hospital
All five firefighters injured Saturday battling a Homestead blaze that heavily damaged three residences are back home and recuperating, Allegheny County officials said Monday. Two received minor to moderate burns and injuries from falling through the first floor to the basement of one of the damaged homes, said Abigail Gardner,...
Pittsburgh police charge 2 teens in South Side vape shop armed robbery
Police have charged two Pittsburgh teens with the armed robbery of a South Side vape shop last month. Jermaine Strong, 18, and Llaila Ahkunke, 17, wielded a shotgun and pistol when they stole cash and vape cartridges from Keystone Vapes on East Carson Street on Dec. 13, according to a...
Lunar lander from Pittsburgh’s North Side burns up in atmosphere after failed moon mission
After traveling for 10 days and hundreds of thousands of miles in space, a Pittsburgh company’s lunar lander appears to have burned up in the atmosphere Thursday afternoon after returning to Earth. The spacecraft, the first American effort to attempt a moon landing in decades, closed the book on its...
3 major Pittsburgh bridges set to get $132M in renovations
Millions of dollars in federal funds will go to help repair and upgrade three major Pittsburgh bridges, federal and state officials announced Thursday. A total of $132 million will help repair steel components, joints and bearings on the McKees Rocks, West End and Fort Duquesne bridges, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey,...
Morning Roundup: Police recover 60 animals — 10 dead — at Butler County home
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Jan. 19: Police find 60 animals — 10 dead — at Butler County home A total of 60 animals were recovered — and several found dead — when Pennsylvania State Police executed a search warrant for animal cruelty...
Morning roundup: Snow’s coming; Butler butcher shop damaged by fire
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Jan. 18: The Pittsburgh area could see a few inches of snow in the coming days, with a “winter weather advisory” in effect for most of southwestern Pennsylvania from 1 a.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday, according to...
