Tom Davidson stories, Page 29
Sheriff deputy IDs, detains suspect in Reserve burglary on morning commute
An Allegheny County sheriff’s deputy started work earlier than planned Tuesday when he recognized a man walking in Pittsburgh’s Spring Hill neighborhood as the suspect in a Reserve burglary. Deputy Robert Stipetich called out to Joseph Ferderbar, who was walking on Harpen Road. Stipetich told Ferderbar he had warrants for...
Judge dismisses most claims in Robert Ferrante’s quest for new trial
An Allegheny County judge dismissed all but one of the claims made by former University of Pittsburgh researcher Robert Ferrante, who’s seeking a new trial after his 2014 conviction for murdering his wife with cyanide. Defense attorney Chris Rand Eyster, who represents Ferrante, said he’ll make the most of Judge...
Man gets 10-20 years in prison for $1.2 million theft from Upper St. Clair church
A South Park man who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1.2 million from a church in Upper St. Clair was sentenced Tuesday to 10 to 20 years in prison and ordered to make restitution to the church. David Reiter, 50, was the administrator at Westminster Presbyterian Church from 2001...
Sheriff: Pittsburgh man who slipped constable’s custody arrested after 6-hour manhunt
A Pittsburgh man is in Allegheny County Jail after he escaped Monday from a constable who was taking him to jail on parole violations, according to the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office. Robert Logsdon, 22, was taken into custody early Tuesday morning at his girlfriend’s home in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood, according...
Scottdale man given house arrest in fatal crash involving crane truck in Pine
A 72-year-old Scottdale man accused of texting on a cellphone minutes before the 43,500-pound crane truck he was driving crashed into three other vehicles on Route 910 in Pine, killing a Sewickley man, reached a plea deal Monday. Charles Hunter will be on house arrest and probation for causing the...
Police: Burglary call turned into potential hostage situation in the Hill District
A burglary call prompted a response by SWAT for a possible hostage situation Monday afternoon in the Pittsburgh’s Hill District, according to public safety spokesman Chris Togneri. The burglary was reported at about 12:25 p.m. in the 300 block of Miller Street in the Crawford-Roberts section of the Hill District....
Gary Van Horn officially out at Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh
The volunteer leader of one of the Pittsburgh region’s LGBTQ advocacy groups has resigned as he awaits a hearing on charges he billed himself as a first responder and forged documents to back it up. Gary Van Horn, 40, of Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood, resigned Monday afternoon as president of the...
Men plead guilty in thefts of rare books from Carnegie Library
The two men accused of stealing and reselling more than $500,000 worth of rare books, maps and other artifacts from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh reached a plea deal Monday with prosecutors who agreed to drop most of the charges they faced. Still, the men could be sentenced to more...
10 charged in Pittsburgh prostitution sting
Pittsburgh police arrested 10 people in an undercover prostitution sting this week at a city hotel. Police accused four of the suspects of working as prostitutes, according to criminal complaints filed in Pittsburgh Municipal Court. Undercover police used phone numbers found on websites to arrange meetings with them at an...
DA: Castle Shannon man accused of bilking heating company of $90K
A Castle Shannon man surrendered to Allegheny County detectives Thursday after he was charged with stealing more than $90,000 from a Bethel Park heating and cooling business between April 2018 and August 2019, according to a criminal complaint filed against him. Anthony James Laugelli, 32, was a sales manager at...
Pittsburgh public works employee hurt in rollover crash on North Side
A Pittsburgh Public Works Department employee suffered minor injuries after a rollover crash Friday morning involving a city truck. Emergency crews found the truck on its side at about 7:30 a.m. on Merchant Street between Martindale Street and Ridge Avenue on the North Side, public safety spokesman Chris Togneri said....
5-year-old burned during science experiment at North Side school, attorney says
A staff member who was supervising when a 5-year-old North Side girl was burned in her kindergarten classroom has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation by Pittsburgh Public Schools, a district spokeswoman said Thursday. Spokeswoman Ebony Pugh wouldn’t provide more details because it’s a personnel matter. The...
South Hills man charged in fatal Brookline crash with cyclist
The 23-year-old South Hills man who was driving a car involved in an October fatal crash with a cyclist in Brookline was charged with homicide by vehicle Wednesday by Pittsburgh police. Police said Thomas Morton wasn’t licensed when he was driving a Honda Civic shortly after 9 p.m. Oct. 20...
Allegheny Technologies seeks tariff exclusion as USW contract talks begin
The CEO of a Pittsburgh-based specialty steel producer that operates 10 plants in the region and others across the country is lobbying federal officials for an exclusion to the 25% tariff on imported steel that’s been imposed by the Trump administration. “We can’t allow our hardworking Pennsylvania employees to be...
Penn Hills man could spend 50 years in prison for killing woman in East Pittsburgh
A Penn Hills man who confessed to beating a woman, throwing her down a flight of basement stairs and strangling her to death in June pleaded guilty Wednesday to third-degree murder and other charges. Delrico Trevo McClinton, 29, was sentenced to as many as 50 years in prison. McClinton confessed...
Trial begins for Churchill man accused in 2018 standoff with police
A 52-year-old Churchill man who was shot twice by police in a two-hour standoff at his home in February 2018 is on trial this week in an Allegheny County courtroom on 100 charges stemming from the incident. Robert Cascella’s trial started Wednesday in front of Judge Mark V. Tranquilli. Cascella...
State Rep. Harry Readshaw announces retirement after 13 terms
It’s hard to escape one’s mortality when the family business is death. State Rep. Harry Readshaw III — a third-generation funeral director and owner of Readshaw Funeral Home in Carrick — announced Tuesday that he would retire at the end of the 2019-20 legislative session. The Democrat has represented the...
Heinz Lofts drops dispute with Terrelle Pryor seeking $1,827 in unpaid rent
A landlord-tenant dispute involving free agent NFL player and Jeannette native Terrelle Pryor and his girlfriend has been resolved without a court hearing, according to online court records. The complaint was filed by Heinz Lofts 10 days after a Nov. 30 fight between Pryor, 30, and his girlfriend, Shalaya Briston,...
Pittsburgh City Council elects new president, newest North Side rep takes officeVideo
As she continues her third term on Pittsburgh City Council, Theresa Kail-Smith had been content in a non-leadership role. “I was comfortable being led,” Kail-Smith said. That ended Monday, when Kail-Smith, 60, of the Westwood neighborhood in the city’s West End, was unanimously elected the new council president. “It was...
Stowe man given life without parole plus 10 to 21 years in 2016 beating death
A Stowe man was sentenced Monday to serve the rest of his life in prison for the 2016 beating death of a 74-year-old man from McKees Rocks. Branden Anthony Frazier, 28, was given the life sentence for his October conviction on charges of first-degree murder in the killing of Benito...
1st rabid raccoon of 2020 found in White Oak, health department says
A raccoon picked up near White Oak Park is the first to test positive for rabies in 2020, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. The raccoon was found near Jacks Run Road in White Oak, the department said. It is the first positive rabies test of 2020, although the...
Police: North Side man says stabbing at New Year’s party was in self-defense
A man from Pittsburgh’s Central North Side told city police he stabbed a man in the ribs early Wednesday in self-defense because the man wouldn’t leave a New Year’s party after fighting with his brother, according to a criminal complaint. Dalbert Banks, 38, told police he was the man they...
Lottery: Cash 5 ticket worth $125K sold in Penn Hills
A Cash 5 ticket worth $125,000 and matching all five numbers in Tuesday’s drawing was sold at a Penn Hills store, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery. The ticket was sold at Penn Hills Convenience, 12120 Frankstown Road. The store will receive a $500 bonus for selling the ticket. The winning...
Wilkinsburg man was shot 7 times by police, investigators say
Forty-three seconds elapsed from the start of the Dec. 22 pursuit of a Wilkinsburg man and the exchange of gunshots that led to his death by Wilkinsburg police, authorities said Tuesday. Romir Talley, 24, fired one round at an unidentified police officer, who returned fire, hitting Talley was hit seven...
Police: White Oak man confessed to killing 90-year-old in Greenfield
The niece of the 90-year-old Hazelwood man who was shot and killed Saturday morning in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood said her uncle had a heart of gold. “It’s pathetic that a man lives to be 90 years old and has to die this way,” said Marlene Regan of Point Breeze. Samuel...
