November 20, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, White Oak News
A parent involved in the McKeesport Area High School Tiger Band’s booster program has been charged after more than $18,000 was reported missing from the volunteer group’s accounts.
Jennifer L. Martino, 49, of White Oak is charged by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office with theft by unlawful taking, access device fraud and misapplication of entrusted property.
Martino was charged Monday. She is currently free on her own recognizance pending a preliminary hearing Dec. 9 before Magisterial District Judge Thomas Miller Jr.
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October 24, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, North Versailles Twp. News
Witnesses said a car driven by a Wilkins Twp. man “had to be pushing 100” miles per hour before it collided with another car in North Versailles Twp., leading to a Duquesne woman’s death.
Aaron J. Butler, 21, is charged by Allegheny County police with homicide in connection with the April 7 death of 66-year-old Tammy Chonko. Butler is free on $25,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing Nov. 1 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Charges were filed Oct. 17.
Detectives allege that Butler was speeding, driving erratically and high on marijuana when his car collided with Chonko’s car at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Crooked Run Road in North Versailles Twp.
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October 16, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A city man is charged with narcotics possession and leaving the scene of an accident in connection with a one-car crash on Fifth Avenue.
Robert Demery, 61, faces a preliminary hearing Nov. 25 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. Riazzi Jr.
According to a criminal complaint, McKeesport police responded early on the morning of Oct. 7 to a report of a one-car crash near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and White Street. Officers arrived to find a Ford SUV had collided with a utility pole, but no driver present, the complaint states.
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October 11, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, North Versailles Twp. News
(Photos courtesy North Versailles Police Department via Facebook)
A Penn Hills man is being held in the Allegheny County Jail following the robbery of a convenience store in North Versailles Twp.
Anthony D. Leone, 44, is charged by North Versailles police in connection with an Oct. 3 holdup of the Speedway on Route 30, according to a criminal complaint. Police said Leone was identified in part by witnesses after township police posted surveillance photos on social media.
He faces a preliminary hearing Nov. 7 before Magisterial District Judge Roxanne Sakoian Eichler.
According to the complaint, a man armed with what appeared to be a handgun held up the store just after 9 p.m. Oct. 3 and fled in a dark gray Ford SUV.
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October 02, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Officials have confirmed that the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office is investigating “irregularities” that were uncovered in the evidence room at the McKeesport police station.
On Tuesday, Pittsburgh’s WPXI-TV said that the office of District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. had been asked to investigate whether money had gone missing from the evidence room.
“The circumstances in question pertain to an ongoing investigation and potential personnel matters, which limits my legal ability to comment,” McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said Wednesday in a prepared statement.
Cherepko said Zappala’s office was contacted by McKeesport police Chief Mark Steele following an internal audit of the evidence room.
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October 01, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Pittsburgh TV station reported Tuesday that investigators from the Allegheny County district attorney’s office are probing whether money has gone missing from the evidence room at the McKeesport police station.
In a report aired at 5 and 6 p.m., WPXI-TV reported that county investigators were notified by city police officials following an internal audit of the evidence room.
WPXI cited unnamed sources with knowledge of the investigation. A message left by Tube City Almanac for the Allegheny County district attorney’s office seeking to confirm or deny the report was not immediately returned.
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September 16, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A city woman who died Saturday morning at a hospital emergency room told police before her death that her husband shot her.
Tammy E. Cox, 51, was pronounced dead just after 6 a.m. in the emergency department at UPMC McKeesport hospital, the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said. According to a police report, she had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and another to the back.
Her husband, Robert G. Cox, 50, is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond pending a preliminary hearing Sept. 27 in Pittsburgh Municipal Court in connection with her death. Cox is charged with homicide by Allegheny County police.
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September 12, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, North Versailles Twp. News
An 18-year-old from Wall Borough died Wednesday evening after a two-car collision on Route 30 in North Versailles Twp.
Emergency personnel said the wreck happened at around 5:30 p.m. near the Dunkin location and Dairy Queen at the corner of Lincoln Highway and Isaac Street.
Xander Wehrhan, also known as Xander Maxwell, was pronounced dead at the scene. Friends said he was a recent graduate of East Allegheny High School.
Allegheny County police said in a prepared release that a car driven by Maxwell was traveling east on Route 30 when it crossed the center line and collided head-on with a box truck.
The driver of the second vehicle, whose name was not release by police, remained on scene, police said. Allegheny County detectives are initiating the investigation.
Route 30 was closed for about two hours on Wednesday evening as emergency crews worked in the area.
Maxwell’s friends have created a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the county police tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
September 05, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
BREAKING: This is a developing story and is subject to change.
(Tube City Almanac file photo)
McKeesport Area School District’s police chief has been charged with theft, forgery and other offenses related to the misuse of money from her former job at the state Attorney General’s office.
Westmoreland County investigators also allege that Brenda D. Sawyer, 61, of North Versailles Twp. misappropriated money from the community violence fund of the McKeesport unit of the NAACP, which she served as president.
The money was used to cover gambling debts at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and the Hollywood Casino at The Meadows in Washington County, a criminal complaint alleges.
Sawyer was arraigned Thursday evening at a district magistrate’s office on charges of theft by unlawful taking, obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, forgery and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities.
She was being held Thursday night in Westmoreland County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing Sept. 13 before Magisterial District Judge Henry Lee Moore in North Huntingdon Twp.
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September 05, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
BREAKING: This is a developing story and is subject to change.
A former McKeesport police detective diverted more than $1 million in dues and other funding from his Fraternal Order of Police lodge to support his Christy Park bar and restaurant, the state attorney general alleges.
Joseph A. Osinski, 55, of Haler Heights was charged Thursday by state investigators with using money from Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 91 to pay personal expenses as well as business expenses for his Christy Park business, Puzzlers Restaurant & Lounge on Walnut Street.
Puzzlers closed abruptly in July.
Osinski was placed on leave from the police department Friday when the city learned of the allegations, McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said. He subsequently retired, Cherepko said, and is no longer employed by the police department.
McKeesport police Chief Mark Steele said there is “no concern whatsoever” about any missing funds from the police department.
Osinski is currently free on $50,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing Oct. 9 before Magisterial District Judge Patrick D. Campbell in Munhall. Court documents did not list an attorney for Osinski.
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