Allegheny County News category, Page 193
Larimer man whose blood-alcohol level was 4 times legal limit gets prison for deadly crash
A Larimer man will spend at least 2-1/2 years in state prison after pleading guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in 2021. Cody Riggins, 28, pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle and driving under the influence in December. On Thursday, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kelly Bigley sentenced...
Allegheny County Chief Public Defender Matt Dugan announces run for district attorney
Matt Dugan has worked in Allegheny County’s criminal justice system for 16 years, holding nearly every attorney position in the Public Defender’s Office during that time. He has been among the youngest in the room as a pretrial attorney, and he’s been among the most experienced, trying homicide charges before...
Bryce Vine, The Ghost Club to perform at La Roche University
La Roche University announced Jan. 19 it will host an April concert featuring rapper Bryce Vine and Pittsburgh alternative rock band The Ghost Club. Sponsored by the La Roche Concert Council, the concert is slated for Thursday, April 13 at the Kerr Fitness & Sports Center at the school’s McCandless...
Bus riding bank robber admits holding up 3 Pittsburgh banks
A former Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of bank robbery Tuesday. The incidents took place between Jan. 31 and Feb. 8, 2022. Calvin Leavy, 68, of Pride Street in the Hill District, admitted attempting to rob the First National Bank at 3721 Forbes Ave. in...
Allegheny County special election date set, results will determine state House control
The dates for three pivotal state House special elections in Allegheny County are set following legal wrangling over who could schedule them and when they would be held. The outcomes of the races will determine which party controls the state House for the remainder of the two-year session. The Allegheny...
Allegheny County detectives accuse contractor of failing to do work in Hampton, Bethel Park after being paid
Detectives with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office have charged a McKeesport man with home improvement fraud after investigating complaints from residents in Hampton and Bethel Park. John Fritzius III, 54, of the 500 block of Lincoln Way was charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of theft by deception, deceptive...
Clairton man suspected in deadly Pitcairn shooting arrested
A Clairton man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a fatal shooting Jan. 2 in Pitcairn. Daniel Kelly, 21, of Clairton, faces a homicide charge and weapons violations, the sheriff’s office said. The victim, Nekye Smith, had been shot in the head around 4 p.m. in the 400 block of...
Police: Richland man paid no-show home improvement contractor up front
A contractor from Butler County faces felony charges after a Richland man told police that he paid more than $6,000 up front for fence work but couldn’t get a refund after being told he would have to wait at least four months for the project to start. Austin Jay Reges,...
How the Good Food Project is creating a zero waste kitchen in Millvale
Too much food can be a good problem to have, but it does pose challenges. Just ask the folks who run 412 Food Rescue’s Good Food Project, a kitchen in Millvale that accepts and processes food that would otherwise go to waste. It’s all about feeding people who don’t have...
Ross hires veteran Pittsburgh police commander to serve as its 1st female chief
Ross Township officials broke with the long-standing tradition of promoting their most senior police officer to chief when an opening comes up. With help from a consultant who developed a plan to restructure the police department, the township announced during a news conference Jan. 17 that it has hired its...
Allegheny County Jail inmate records videos from inside jail, has them posted to YouTube
A man awaiting trial on a rape charge may no longer represent himself in court after he used recording equipment inside Allegheny County Jail to make multiple videos — including a sample opening statement — and posted them on YouTube. James Taric Byrd, 44, has been incarcerated while awaiting trial...
Slain Monroeville teen remembered as ‘sweetest person’
Eloisa Creighton has read the flood of online comments and social media posts about her grandson, Aceyn Ausbrook, who was shot and killed last weekend outside a Monroeville birthday party. Now, she said she wants to add her voice to the chorus. “People say it all the time, but he...
South Fayette man pleads to Jan. 6 Capitol riot charges
A South Fayette man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Jorden Mink, 29, will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss on April 11 on two counts including assaulting, resisting or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon and theft of...
Circus theme has patrons under ‘Big Top’ at Food Truck a Palooza inside Monroeville Convention Center
Food Truck a Palooza brought families from across Western Pennsylvania to the Monroeville Convention Center for some fun under the Big Top. The sixth annual installment of one of the nation’s largest indoor food truck festivala featured a circus theme complete with clowns, stilt walkers, puppeteers, face painting and much...
Duquesne University professor dead in apparent murder-suicide in Wilkins
A popular Duquesne University professor and his wife died Tuesday morning in Wilkins in what Allegheny County Police described as a murder-suicide. Emergency dispatchers received a third-party call just before 10 a.m. requesting a police check on a couple engaged in a violent domestic incident inside their home on Thorncrest...
$1.3B expansion of Mon-Fayette Expressway to begin soon, Pa. Turnpike Commission says
A $1.3 billion expansion project of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Mon-Fayette Expressway between Route 51 and Interstate 376 is expected to get underway soon, according to the Turnpike Commission. The 8-mile extension will expand the Mon-Fayette Expressway, which now stretches 54 miles from Jefferson Hills to Morgantown, W.Va. When complete, the...
Bridgeville event celebrates life of Martin Luther King Jr.
For more than half a century, students in most American classrooms have learned at least a little something about Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. They may have memorized it as occurring in 1963 before a quarter of a million people in the nation’s capital, and that...
Twitter storm hovers over Allegheny County Council race between Hallam, Doven
That escalated quickly. A race for an at-large seat on Allegheny County Council had barely gotten underway this month when attacks started flying. Many of them came from observers of the race on social media, particularly Twitter, and almost immediately put the race’s two candidates on the defensive. Joanna Doven...
13-year-old charged in homicide of teenager in Clairton
Allegheny County police said they have charged a 13-year-old Clairton male in the shooting death of another teen Monday night in Clairton. The shooting happened about 9:19 p.m. in the 400 block of Wilson Avenue, police said. LaQuan Rich-Cabbagestalk, 13, is charged with homicide in connection with the death of...
Event at Carnegie Museum of Art rings in Chinese New Year
Like Indiana Jones, you may not be especially fond of snakes. But as Qihan Liu demonstrated, they can have a musical purpose. He was among the musicians giving demonstrations of traditional Chinese instruments during Sunday’s 26th Greater Pittsburgh Lunar New Year Show and Fair at the Carnegie Museum of Art...
Allegheny County Bar Association holds Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast
It was a day for honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and those who have been inspired by it. The Allegheny County Bar Association’s Homer S. Brown Division held the 24th annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast and Program on Monday at Ebenezer Baptist...
Plum, Oakmont, Verona area happenings, week of Jan. 16, 2023
Friends of the Riverfront meets Friends of the Riverfront is working with Verona, Oakmont, Plum and Penn Hills to develop a safe, accessible and sustainable multi-purpose trail stretching from the Allegheny Riverfront in Verona, through Oakmont and Penn Hills along Plum Creek, to Boyce Park in Plum. The plan is being...
Hampton area happenings, week of Jan. 16, 2023
Museum hosts Doll Tea, lecture A Doll Tea is scheduled for 2 to 3 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Depreciation Lands Museum, 4743 S. Pioneer Road, Hampton. The afternoon of tea, treats and crafts is for children ages 5 and older, accompanied by their favorite doll. This event is geared...
2-year-old girl killed in Shaler fire remembered as ‘angel-like’
Kathy Palmer was working the night shift at a GetGo in Wexford when she got the call from her son as Friday turned into Saturday around midnight. “Something really bad has happened,” Palmer recalled him saying. “There was a fire and Dani didn’t make it.” Danika Deramo, Palmer’s 2-year-old granddaughter,...
Police: One-car wreck in Churchill sends 3 to hospital
A car crash in Churchill sent three people to the hospital, authorities said Sunday. The one-car wreck occurred near the intersection of Lewin Lane and Beulah Road around 3 p.m., according to an Allegheny County 911 shift supervisor. Details were not available on the injuries or conditions of the hospitalized...
