Tom Davidson stories, Page 35
Police: South Park girl not attacked, made up story about homecoming bonfire
The Oct. 3 incident in South Park involving a disheveled 12-year-old girl was a ruse by the girl to avoid punishment, Allegheny County police said. The girl was not attacked, police said. South Park police initially responded to the call at about 8:30 p.m. to Evans Park where the girl...
30th gun confiscated this year at Pittsburgh International Airport
A West Virginia man was stopped Tuesday by Transportation Security Administration officers with a loaded gun at the Pittsburgh International Airport, the agency said. It was the 30th gun stopped by the TSA at the airport this year. The man, from Glenville, in central West Virginia, had a .380 caliber...
Police: Pittsburgh woman attempted carjackings to get to mom’s house for Wi-FiVideo
A 19-year-old woman told police she was trying to get to her estranged mother’s house to use the Wi-Fi when she tried to carjack vehicles Tuesday in East Liberty. Ajanay Watson of Pittsburgh attempted to carjack two cars, including one driven by an off-duty Allegheny County sheriff’s deputy, before carjacking...
Dick’s Sporting Goods destroyed $5 million worth of guns, CEO Edward Stack saysVideo
Dick’s Sporting Goods destroyed $5 million worth of assault rifles instead of returning them to their manufacturers, the Findlay-based company’s CEO told CBS in an interview. CEO Edward Stack spoke to CBS national correspondent Lee Cowan in an interview that aired on “CBS Sunday Morning.” “If we really think these...
Pittsburgh council declares Oct. 27 ‘Remember Repair Together Day’ to honor Tree of LifeVideo
One of Pittsburgh’s darkest days will be officially known as “Remember Repair Together Day.” Pittsburgh City Council and the mayor issued a proclamation Tuesday marking Oct. 27, the day in 2018 a lone gunman entered a synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood and opened fire, killing 11 people and...
Westmoreland County trust sought to pay Pittsburgh diocese’s sex abuse claims
An Allegheny County judge will decide whether a trust bequeathed to the Roman Catholic Church to help needy boys can be used by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to help pay victims of clergy sexual abuse. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office opposes using the 120-year-old Toner Trust — now...
Police: Pittsburgh man set fire to 8 portable toilets on North ShoreVideo
A Pittsburgh man was arrested and accused of setting eight portable toilets on fire early Monday morning on the North Shore, public safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. The toilets were placed near the intersection of Tony Dorsett Drive and West General Robinson Street. Seven of them burned to the ground...
Kanczes family sues YMCA over son’s death during outing in Somerset County
The family of the 15-year-old North Huntingdon boy who fell to his death in July while rappelling in Somerset County are suing the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh and its affiliate in Beaver County for unspecified damages in Allegheny County court. The suit alleges the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh and Camp...
Trial starts for man accused in 2016 beating death of elderly McKees Rocks man
A 28-year-old man is on trial this week in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in connection with the 2016 beating death of a 74-year-old man in McKees Rocks. Branden Anthony Frazier is accused of killing Benito Nicoletti, whose body was found June 1, 2016, on a couch in his Vine...
Grandparents hope to take custody of West Mifflin baby found in TennesseeVideo
The paternal grandparents of the 8-week-old boy from West Mifflin who was found Tuesday in Tennessee after a five-day search said Thursday their son and his wife didn’t know they were wanted on criminal charges for abusing their baby. “They thought they were in their rights as parents to get...
Duquesne Incline closed until Friday because of bedbugsVideo
Bedbugs are back inside the Duquesne Incline. Discovery of the pests Wednesday afternoon forced closure of the iconic incline at 3 p.m. so an exterminator could treat the cars and station of the incline, according to a release from the Port Authority of Pittsburgh. The incline will reopen at 5:30...
Pair charged in 2018 East Liberty pizza delivery death plead guilty
The two men facing murder charges in the 2018 shooting death of a Nigerian pizza delivery driver in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood reached plea deals and were sentenced Wednesday. D’Ambrosse Garland, 18, of Marshall-Shadeland and Timothy Walls, 17, of Terrace Village pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy before...
Perry South man could serve up to 30 years for 2017 murder in Marshall-Shadeland
A 37-year-old Perry South man pleaded guilty to third degree murder and two firearms violations Tuesday in Allegheny County Court, according to the district attorney’s office. In exchange for the plea, Melvin Russaw was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison and five years of probation by Judge Jill...
Duquesne Incline closed until Friday because of bedbugsVideo
Bedbugs are back inside the Duquesne Incline. Discovery of the pests Wednesday afternoon forced closure of the iconic incline at 3 p.m. so an exterminator could treat the cars and station of the incline, according to a release from the Port Authority of Pittsburgh. The incline will reopen at 5:30...
Woman counted 102 bedbug bites after trip on Duquesne Incline
The nonprofit that runs the Duquesne Incline will start regularly spraying for bedbugs and other insects after an infestation was found in one of the cars. Mark McNally, executive director of the Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Heights Incline, said the bedbug infestation in one of the cars...
Coroner investigating Pittsburgh man’s death at Greene County shooting range
A 29-year-old Pittsburgh man died Saturday afternoon at a Greene County shooting range, according to a news release from Greene County Coroner Gene Rush. Raymond Aquiles Ascencio, of Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes neighborhood, was pronounced dead at 2:23 p.m. Saturday at a state game lands shooting range in Greene Township,...
Vandals damage St. Bede School in Point Breeze
A Catholic school in Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood was vandalized Sunday, according to an email sent to parents of the school. Officials at St. Bede School declined comment about the incident, and Pittsburgh police didn’t immediately provide details. A first-grade classroom and an art room were damaged and “inappropriate messages”...
Pittsburgh EMS receives top award from American Heart AssociationVideo
Pittsburgh’s Emergency Medical Services bureau is one of 77 in Pennsylvania and 615 across the country that received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Plus Award. The city’s EMS leadership and other local officials accepted the award Monday from Gina Hrach, the director of quality systems improvement for...
Authorities: Man found near Highland Park bike trail died of overdose
A 58-year-old Oakmont man found dead May 20 near a bike trail in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park died of an overdose, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Charles Lutz died of combined overdose of fentanyl, cocaine, methadone, clonazepam and tramadol, according to the medical examiner. Lutz’s body was found...
Pittsburgh gets nearly $1M in funding for smoke detectors for deaf residents
Deaf and hearing-impaired Pittsburgh residents will benefit from about $1 million that’s being earmarked for smoke and fire detectors that can alert those who cannot hear that there is a fire. The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire a $950,000 grant for the devices. The city...
Case against a McKeesport man accused in Downtown stabbing heads to court
The case against a McKeesport man accused in an Aug. 8 double stabbing Downtown that killed one woman and injured another will move to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, a Pittsburgh district judge ruled Friday. James Wyatt, 23, had a preliminary hearing Friday. He is charged with homicide,...
Sisters assaulted at gas station say they feared for their livesVideo
As three men pushed, hit and dragged two sisters along the pavement outside a gas station, one of the sisters thought their lives were in danger. Jamila Regan, 25, of Pittsburgh’s Central North Side neighborhood, and her sister Ashia Regan, 27, who lives in East Allegheny, spoke to the media...
$3 million winning scratch-off lottery ticket sold in North Fayette
Someone is $3 million richer thanks to a winning scratch-off ticket that was sold at a North Fayette Township convenience store, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery. The person who bought the ticket wasn’t identified, but the winning Diamond Dazzler ticket was sold at the Circle K on Market Place Drive,...
Race not a factor in Pittsburgh gas station dispute, lawyer for 2 charged saysVideo
The race and gender of the people involved in a Sept. 20 fight at an Exxon station in Marshall-Shadeland is not a factor in the case, the attorney for two of the three men charged in it said Thursday. “My clients are not racists,” attorney David A. Shrager said. “They...
Police: Mother left kids to help friend in a fight; ‘deplorable’ home conditions detailed
Police have charged a woman for leaving her two children alone in their Bedford Dwellings home. The 23-year-old woman, Mattie Viola Sims, told police that she left the residence in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood to help a friend who was about to fight nearby. The children, ages 4 and 1,...
