April 01, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, at right with police Chief Mark Steele, swears in new police officers (from left) Dale McGlaughlin, Seth Taylor and Jodi Leitzell at the March council meeting. (Tube City Almanac photo)
McKeesport police have created a floating school detail that is checking in with each of the city’s public, parochial and private schools on a weekly basis, Chief Mark Steele said recently.
In addition, new officers, new equipment and new tactics are being developed in an effort to improve community relations and bolster public safety, he said.
The two-person school detail is visiting buildings at least three days each week and has the flexibility to go where they can provide the most help, Steele said. “They can go to Twin Rivers, Founders Hall, South Hall, the high school, or Propel or Serra Catholic,” he said. “It’s up to them — whatever they feel is necessary.”
Steele said he met with principals of each of the schools recently to assess their needs and gauge whether they would appreciate an increased police presence. The principals welcomed the idea, he said.
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April 01, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A Braddock woman faces homicide charges in connection with the death on Saturday night of an East Hills man.
Latiya D. Hicks, 24, is being held in the Allegheny County Jail pending a preliminary hearing April 12 in Pittsburgh Muncipal Court. She is charged with fatally shooting Lamont Nichols, 30, of Pittsburgh inside an apartment on North Second Street in Duquesne.
Allegheny County police said that Hicks was arrested at the scene.
According to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Allegheny County Night Court, when Duquesne police officers asked “where is the shooter?” Hicks identified herself and directed them to her handbag, where a 9-mm handgun was found.
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March 29, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News, White Oak News
(Photo via Facebook)
The remains discovered in a wooded area of White Oak earlier this month have been positively identified as those of a Duquesne man who had been missing since May 2023.
The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said Friday that a body reported to White Oak police on March 16 was that of 72-year-old Nicholas “Butch” Miljus Jr., formerly of West Mifflin. The cause and manner of death have not yet been released.
An Army veteran, Miljus, who was known around the community as “Cookie Man,” was reported missing to Duquesne police by his daughter in September 2023. According to reports, Miljus had been evicted from his residence in May 2023, and police said the last transaction on his bank account had been reported in June.
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March 17, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News, White Oak News
Allegheny County police and the medical examiner’s office are working to identify what appear to be human remains found behind a building in White Oak.
Foul play is not suspected, police said.
In a prepared release, Allegheny County police said that emergency personnel received a call through 9-1-1 at 5:30 p.m. Saturday that remains had been found behind a building in the 700 block of O’Neil Boulevard.
County homicide detectives are investigating and the medical examiner’s office is working to identify the remains.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the County Police Tip Line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
January 29, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A motorcyclist and his passenger were injured Saturday afternoon when they collided with a car on Route 30 in North Versailles Twp.
Allegheny County police said the motorcycle was headed east on Route 30 near the Greensburg Pike overpass at around 2:30 p.m. when a sedan turned left onto the highway from Highwood Avenue into its path, and the vehicles collided.
The cyclist was taken to a hospital in critical condition, while the passenger was taken to the hospital in stable condition, police said. Neither person’s name was released.
The driver and passengers of the sedan were not injured, police said. Homicide detectives initiated an investigation.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the county police Tip Line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
January 28, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Allegheny County police are investigating a head-on collision on the Mansfield Bridge that sent two people to area hospitals.
Police said that just after 3:15 p.m. Friday, a red Hyundai sedan entered the bridge from the Glassport side, traveling the wrong way in the southbound lanes.
There, police said, it collided with a black Honda SUV. The driver of the Hyundai, identified only as an adult male, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, while the Honda’s driver, identified only as an adult female, was in stable condition. Neither drivers’ name was released.
The bridge was closed to traffic for several hours as police worked on the accident scene.
The Allegheny County police Collision Reconstruction and Homicide Unit is investigating. Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the county police tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
January 28, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Two men accused of racing one another across the Mansfield Bridge before a fatal school-bus crash will face trial on all of the charges.
At a preliminary hearing Friday before Magisterial District Judge Katherine P. Lovelace in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood, William R. Soliday II, 43, of Irwin, and Andrew N. Voigt, 37, of Penn Hills, were ordered held for court in connection with the Sept. 20 death of Samantha Kalkbrenner, a sophomore at Serra Catholic High School, and injuries suffered by four other people on the bus, including the driver.
Formal arraignment has been scheduled for Feb. 26 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Soliday is currently being held without bond on homicide and related charges in Allegheny County Jail. Voigt is free on $150,000 cash bond.
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January 11, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A Duquesne woman is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond in connection with the death of her three-month-old son from a head injury.
Alisha L. Parker, 26, is charged by Allegheny County police with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of children in connection with the death on Sunday of Dal’von Means.
County detectives allege that Parker was intoxicated at ther time of her baby’s death, and that an autopsy indicated the infant had a skull fracture that could only have been delivered by someone with the strength of an adult.
Police allege Parker attempted to blame the infant’s death on her other child, age 3, who she described to detectives as “jealous” and “dangerous,” telling investigators the other child “gotta go.”
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January 08, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News
(This is a developing story and will be updated if necessary.)
A former security guard at McKeesport Area High School was arrested Monday on charges that she had a sexual relationship with a now 17-year-old student.
Alexis Brown, 24, of McKeesport is charged by Allegheny County police with institutional sexual assault, corrupting the morals of minors and unlawful contact with a minor. She was being held in the Allegheny County Jail Monday night awaiting arraignment.
In affidavits filed in Allegheny County Night Court, police said the relationship was reported in early December. Police accused Brown of striking up a relationship with the student over Facebook Messenger that they described as “casual” at first, but which investigators allege turned sexual in nature.
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January 06, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Prosecutors in Tennessee withdrew two citations against McKeesport’s mayor, who said he is grateful to supporters who stood by him following a November incident at a Nashville nightclub.
“I knew it was a misunderstanding and that everything would work out, but I’m so grateful to have this case dismissed and for the system to view it as I had,” Mayor Michael Cherepko said Saturday.
Cherepko was cited by Metro Nashville police after an incident Nov. 19 at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row. The mayor, who was on vacation with his wife, had been at the bar earlier in the evening, then went back to look for a missing credit card.
Security guards flagged down a passing police officer and asked Cherepko to be cited for criminal trespassing and public intoxication.
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