Tony LaRussa stories, Page 5
Coroner identifies drag racer who died during event at Derry track
A man who died while competing in an event Saturday afternoon at Keystone Raceway in Derry has been identified by authorities. The victim was identified as Ronnie John Ruggiero, 37, of Irwin, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson. Ruggiero was drag racing a pickup when he failed to stop...
Penn Hills man accused of violating parole by beating, running over woman
A Penn Hills man accused of violating his probation after police say he beat a woman and drove over her leg as he fled has been taken into custody, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office announced. Dayon Damon Caldwell, 25, of the 300 block of Fielding Drive pleaded guilty in 2020...
Lower Burrell pays homage to changing season with annual Harvest Festival
Organizers of Lower Burrell’s harvest festival couldn’t have asked for a better day than Saturday to hold their annual community event. After a week of summer-like temperatures that peaked into the 80s, the crisp autumn breeze and bright sunny sky was the perfect accompaniment for a day of festivities that...
Ring doorbell, plate readers help police ID woman accused of burglarizing Allegheny Township apartment
An Indiana County woman was accused of breaking into a unit at the Sandalwood Apartments in Allegheny Township and causing nearly $1,300 in damage after a neighbor gave investigators a video clip from a Ring doorbell camera, according to authorities. Kaeona Janae Booker, 25, of the 1500 block of Route...
Pair ordered to trial after drug raid at New Kensington home
Two people accused of selling drugs after agents raided their New Kensington home in August have been ordered to stand trial. William Art Tamuschy Jr., 56, and Janet Lea Glubish, 55, both of the 1000 block of Edgewood Road, were charged with felony counts of possession of drugs with the...
West Deer man accused of taking money from client for truck parts but never ordering them
A West Deer man is accused of stealing nearly $2,000 that he charged a client upfront to buy tires and other parts needed to work on the client’s truck. Camaron James Harris, 34, of the 1000 block of Deer Creek Road was charged by West Deer police with felony counts...
Gilpin man ordered to trial on charge of strangling woman during argument
A Gilpin man accused of assaulting and strangling a woman during an argument has been ordered to stand trial in Armstrong County Court. Southern Armstrong County Police charged Matthew Lockhart, 41, of the 100 block of Zachar Lane with a felony count of strangulation and counts of simple assault, disorderly...
String of suspicious fires, shooter on the loose disconcerting for New Kensington, Arnold residents
Melissa McCrory and some friends were sitting on the stoop of her Leishman Avenue home Monday when she heard a volley of gunfire ring out from somewhere up the street. Moments later, she said, she encountered one of the people involved in a shooting that took place in the 1500...
New Kensington man accused of check forgery ordered to stand trial
A New Kensington man has been ordered to stand trial for forgery after being accused of depositing a check that was erroneously delivered to his home. Paul James Zielinski, 50, of the 500 block of North Street was charged Aug. 18 with a count of felony forgery and was released...
4 weekend fires in New Kensington, Arnold — 3 on same street — being treated as suspicious
Investigators are trying to determine whether four fires that erupted over the weekend — including one that sent a firefighter to the hospital with serious injuries — were deliberately set and connected to one another. Three of the four fires were on Leishman Avenue and one was on Fourth Avenue....
Charges dismissed against New Kensington landlord accused of strangling tenant
Westmoreland County prosecutors have decided not to proceed with a case against a New Kensington landlord who was accused of strangling and slapping a woman during a dispute over when she would move out of his rental unit. Terrance Joel Martin Jr., 57, of Harrison was charged Aug. 10 with...
Police: Forged check cashed at New Kensington supermarket prompts charity to suspend program
A charitable organization in McKeesport suspended its program to help people get state photo ID cards after one of its clients was accused of altering a check they gave her and cashing it at a New Kensington supermarket, according to authorities. Eboni Deshawn Sanders, 42, of the 500 block of...
State’s sheriffs on board with renewed effort to stop guns at airport checkpoints with possible loss of carry permits
Airline passengers who enter a security checkpoint with a gun in their carry-on luggage are being put on notice — again — by federal authorities and county sheriffs. For the second time in two years, authorities said they will seek to revoke permits to carry a firearm. “It is simple:...
Plan ahead when ‘packing’ to avoid steep fines, potential loss of gun carry permit
A renewed statewide initiative aimed at getting airline passengers to stop bringing guns to airport checkpoints by asking county sheriffs to revoke concealed carry permits will add to the stiff fine gun owners already face when caught. Depending on circumstances, the federal penalty for bringing weapons to a security checkpoint...
Who approves concealed-carry permits in Pennsylvania? And what does that entail?
More than 1.6 million Pennsylvania residents are licensed to carry a gun concealed on their body or vehicle, according to state police. But who approved those licenses? And what goes into the determination process? Citizens who are 21 or older can apply for a concealed-carry permit at their county sheriff’s...
New Kensington woman ordered to stand trial, accused of DUI with 3 kids in car where drugs were found
A woman has been ordered to stand trial on charges that she was drunk when she drove from Greensburg to New Kensington with her three children in a car, where police found ecstasy pills and psychedelic mushrooms. Alicia Lagrant Woody, 25, of Haser Drive in New Kensington waived her right...
5 women accused of using check fraud scheme to steal $30K from Buffalo Township school bus company
State police accused five women of stealing nearly $30,000 from a school bus company in Buffalo Township by forging the owner’s signature on bogus paychecks that they deposited in their checking accounts. One of the people arrested worked for the bus company, and another was employed at the bank where...
West Deer police say man was heavily intoxicated, had illegal gun, pot in car when pulled over
West Deer police say a man who was pulled over after nearly crashing into a police cruiser was intoxicated and had an illegal gun and pot in his pickup. Alexander J. Settembrino, 24, of the 500 block of Madison Drive in Richland was charged with a felony count of carrying...
Police: Harmar man threatens to set mother ablaze, tries to get gas from garage
A Harmar man was arrested after his parents gave police a video that showed him threatening to douse his mother with gasoline, light her on fire, and set the family’s house and vehicles ablaze, according to authorities. Randolph Gregory Schmotzer, 39, of the 100 block of Acme Avenue was charged...
Allegheny Health Network expands inpatient pediatric offerings at its Wexford Hospital
Families in the North Hills with children who need specialized care or treatment for a serious illness may no longer have to travel to a hospital in Pittsburgh. Allegheny Health Network announced that it is expanding pediatric services at its AHN Wexford Hospital in Pine. The expanded inpatient services include...
Police arrest woman on drug charges after officer spots transaction at Vandergrift convenience store
Vandergrift police say an Armstrong County woman was arrested after an officer saw her buying crack cocaine while parked at a convenience store gas pump. Melissa Elaine Ferraro, 39, of the 100 block of Girty Road in South Bend Township was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs...
Brackenridge man awaiting hearing charged with threatening borough worker with BB gun
A Brackenridge man arrested in August on charges he used an ax to break through a door because he was angry that his housemates weren’t chipping in enough to pay the bills has been arrested again. David Hood Monroe, 64, of the 1100 block of Roup Avenue is accused of...
Man crushed to death by truck in Frazer identified
A worker at an auto salvage yard in Frazer was killed Thursday morning when the pickup truck he was dismantling slipped off a rack and landed on him, according to authorities. The victim was identified Friday as Joseph Hloznik, 48, of Tarentum by the The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office,...
Hammer-wielding mother, daughters among those accused of attacking 2 Tarentum women
Tarentum police accused five women, including a mother wielding a hammer and her two adult daughters, of luring two other women out of an apartment to assault them. Police charged Benetta Maria McCoy, 49, of Pittsburgh with two felony counts of aggravated assault along with two counts each of simple...
Harrison man facing 28 felony child porn charges reaches plea deal on 12 counts
A Harrison man facing more than two dozen felony counts after state agents accused him of having child pornography videos on his cellphone has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for more than half of the charges being dropped. Gregory Paul Rosato, 60, of the 1400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue...
