Justin Vellucci stories, Page 6
Morning Roundup: Driver escapes injury in turnpike fire; 2 injured in Penn Hills crash
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Thursday, July 24: Driver escapes injury in Turnpike fire A driver freed themselves from a tractor-trailer cab after a fire broke out inside of it Wednesday afternoon on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, authorities said. First responders from the Wexford Volunteer...
Police probe Wilkinsburg rollover crash
Two men were hospitalized early Tuesday after their car crashed and overturned in Wilkinsburg, authorities said. Police who were dispatched at 12:12 a.m. to the 400 block of Ardmore Boulevard said they found a red Chevy Camaro overturned, with two men inside. Paramedics took the driver, who police did not...
‘It’s hard not to break’: Daughter of Plum house explosion victims continues to grieve without closureVideo
Wherever Taylor Oravitz goes, her childhood home goes with her. The Plum native had her Rustic Ridge Drive home’s GPS coordinates tattooed on her forearm, though not for nostalgia’s sake. Rather, it’s a kind of memorial in ink and flesh. On Aug. 12, 2023, a massive explosion at her family’s...
‘Series of failures’: Lawsuit blames fatal Plum house explosion on pipeline leak, water heaterVideo
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published on July 23. It’s being reposted on the two-year anniversary of the tragedy in Plum. Families of the six people killed in a 2023 house explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge subdivision have sued multiple companies for negligence and wrongful death, blaming them for...
Baby’s death spurs homicide charge against Pittsburgh teen already accused of child abuse
Police have charged a Pittsburgh teenager with homicide in the death of the 10-month-old son of the person he was dating. Dominick Pinnick, 18, of Homewood had been under arrest since Sunday on attempted homicide and other charges after police said he abused and critically injured the baby when he...
Morning Roundup: Work on Parkway East to shutter traffic in Monroeville; sunny skies in week ahead
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Monday, July 21: Parkway East work to impact Monroeville traffic Part of Old William Penn Highway in Monroeville will temporarily close to traffic Monday night, weather permitting, PennDOT officials announced. Motorists will not be able to travel on Old...
McKeesport man dies following motorcycle crash in Fayette County
A McKeesport man was killed Saturday after a motorcycle crash in Fayette County, Pennsylvania State Police said late Sunday. David Lesko, 34, died after the crash around 6:30 p.m. on Morgantown Road in Springhill Township, police said. Paramedics had rushed Lesko to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, police said....
Authorities ID South Park house fatal fire victim
Authorities have identified the fatal fire victim from Monday morning in the South Hills as a 42-year-old man from South Park. Donald Uncapher was pronounced dead at 1:36 a.m. at the scene of the fire in the 1100 block of Mike Reed Drive in South Park. Police, firefighters and EMS...
3 men charged in Larimer slaying headed to court after 7-hour hearing
Three Pittsburgh men accused of killing a Woodland Hills High School football standout last year during a drug deal that escalated into an execution are headed to court. After a marathon, seven-hour preliminary hearing Friday, District Judge Lisa Caulfield sent charges in the fatal shooting of Gavin Yarbough, 21, to...
Man charged with stabbing victim up to 40 times in Downtown Pittsburgh heads to trial
An Ohio man is headed to trial on charges that he stabbed a 65-year-old man dozens of times on a Downtown Pittsburgh sidewalk last month. A district judge Thursday sent the case of Christopher Leroy Harris Jr., 30, of Sidney, Ohio, 40 miles north of Dayton, to Allegheny County Common...
Hip surgery to force GOP’s Moreno off Pittsburgh mayoral campaign trail for 1 month
Tony Moreno, the Pittsburgh Republican mayoral hopeful, will be off the campaign trail for up to a month following an upcoming hip surgery. Moreno, a retired Pittsburgh police officer who first ran for mayor in 2021, said the “minimally invasive” surgery will attempt to stem the effects of degenerative arthritis...
Police: McKeesport bus stop stabbing prompted by attack from partly naked man
An Indianapolis man remained in jail Monday after police say he disrobed from the waist down at a McKeesport bus stop in a manic state, shouted racial slurs and attacked two people — prompting one of them to stab him multiple times in self-defense. Brayden Dixon, 21, approached a Pittsburgh...
Judge: Proper notice was not given in bond hearing of man later charged in fatal shooting
Allegheny County’s president judge ruled Thursday the public defender’s office did not provide “proper notice” that it was going to Orphans’ Court to seek the release from jail of a man with intellectual disabilities who was later charged with killing a woman in Pittsburgh. The decision by the Allegheny County...
McKeesport man charged with slaying during drug deal gone ‘sideways’
Police have made an arrest in the slaying last month of an Ohio man found shot in the head and slumped over inside his still-running vehicle in Pittsburgh’s East End. Daevone Brown, 30, of McKeesport was arrested Wednesday and charged with homicide, attempted homicide and other offenses in connection with...
2 Hazelwood men charged with abusing 6 puppies
Two Pittsburgh men were jailed without bail Wednesday on dozens of animal cruelty charges that accused them of cutting off six puppies’ tails at their Hazelwood home, among other abuse. The botched docking of the tails led some of the dogs to need surgery and at least one to death....
Uber driver, passenger shot overnight in Homestead
An Uber driver and passenger were hospitalized after being shot early Wednesday in the Mon Valley, authorities said. Allegheny County Police were dispatched around 1:20 a.m. to Homestead’s West Street after 911 dispatchers received a report about a man with a gunshot wound there. The man, who police have not...
North Side woman jailed for assaulting mother now faces homicide charge in her death
Police have charged a Reserve Township woman with delivering the bone-breaking punch that caused her 73-year-old mother’s death — just days after the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the mother’s death a homicide. Krystal Slepski, 43, punched Patricia Kachinko in the chest during a June 2 argument at Kachinko’s...
Police charge Carnegie man with leaving dogs to roast in scorching heat
A Carnegie man is facing a preliminary hearing after police accused him of leaving his three dogs outside during a sweltering week in June without food or water, leading one animal to suffer brain swelling and die. Carnegie police on Monday arrested James Brandon Lewis, 41, on three felony counts...
Passenger sues Allegheny County Police over incident at Pittsburgh airport
A New Jersey man said a decision by Allegheny County Police to detain him two years ago at Pittsburgh International Airport when he began asking questions after his flight was canceled violated his constitutional rights and “is an example of the systemic injustice routinely faced by Black men,” according to...
Pittsburgh police union head labels South Side a ‘disaster’ after attack on officers with fireworksVideo
As chaos disrupted Pittsburgh’s busiest entertainment corridor for the third consecutive week over the Fourth of July weekend, several people tossed firecrackers, bottle rockets and M80s into the crowd and at police, leaving three officers with minor injuries. Shortly before bars and clubs closed Saturday at 2 a.m., multiple people...
Police report death of 1 Sunday shooting victim in Penn Hills
One of two women shot Sunday night in Penn Hills has died, authorities said Monday. She was identified by the Allegheny County County Medical Examiner’s Office as Ojanay Pride, 26, of Pittsburgh’s West Oakland neighborhood. Allegheny County Police found two women suffering from gunshot wounds after officers were dispatched to...
Lincoln Beach residents, past and present, celebrate 100th anniversary with fellowship, faith and family
Carolyn Lowe left Lincoln Beach a half-century ago. But the Beach never left her. Born in her grandmother’s house in the Upper Burrell neighborhood, a segregated community that a real estate entrepreneur founded in 1925, the Black Westmoreland County native excelled in her academic studies from a very young age....
‘Come early’: Pittsburgh police gird for July 4 crowds, road closures
Independence Day revelry will be moved, yet again, out of Downtown Pittsburgh and into the city’s North Shore neighborhood — and city police Thursday said they’re ready for the crowds. Construction at Point State Park is forcing event organizers, as they did last year, to stage the Fourth of July...
In wake of homicide ruling, police release few details about Troy Hill grandmother’s death
Mystery continues to surround the investigation into the death last month of a Troy Hill woman, whose homicide was acknowledged only Thursday by Pittsburgh police. Patricia Kachinko, a lifelong homemaker and grandmother of three, died June 24 from respiratory complications caused by blunt force trauma to the chest, the Allegheny...
Troy Hill grandmother’s death ruled homicide
Authorities have ruled a Troy Hill woman’s death last week was a homicide. Patricia Kachinko, 73, died June 24 in an area hospital, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday. Her cause of death was respiratory complication from blunt force trauma of the chest. Pittsburgh police are investigating, the...
