October 21, 2018 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
Calls to Duquesne police for assistance are up --- but so are arrests.
Duquesne police Chief Tom Dunlevy reported the increases during the Oct. 9 city council meeting.
Through the third quarter of 2018, Dunlevy said, calls for service are up 40 percent compared with the previous period in 2017, while arrests are up 21 percent. Traffic stops are up 56 percent and traffic citations are up 59 percent, but traffic accidents are down 26 percent, he said.
“I’m very proud of the accomplishments of the department so far this year,” said Dunlevy, who became the Duquesne police chief in January.
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October 17, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
An Avalon man faces a preliminary hearing Friday in connection with the death of a McKeesport woman in a traffic accident.
Robert L. Darrisaw Jr., 23, is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bond, court records indicate.
Allegheny County police charged Darrisaw on Oct. 12. In a statement, county police Lt. Andrew Schurman said that Darrisaw has been identified as the driver of a car that broadsided another vehicle near the intersection of Lebanon Church Road and Buttermilk Hollow Road in West Mifflin just before 4 a.m. Sept. 23.
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October 15, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A McKeesport man is dead following a drive-by shooting Saturday morning that police believe happened near the Rankin Bridge.
Dijuan Bray, 24, died Sunday afternoon at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, Oakland, of wounds sustained in the incident, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office. His death has been ruled a homicide.
Allegheny County police said Bray was a passenger in a Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck, similar to the one pictured below, when someone shot at him and the driver.
In a prepared statement, county police Lt. Andrew Schurman said Bray and the driver arrived at the emergency room at UPMC McKeesport Hospital at 3:42 a.m. Saturday. Both were suffering gunshot wounds to the head, Schurman said.
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October 10, 2018 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
Duquesne police Chief Tom Dunlevy reported 564 calls for service for the month of August, resulting in 52 arrests.
Calls for service included 24 abandoned vehicles, 25 criminal mischief calls, 10 juvenile complaints, 33 domestics, 17 disturbances and 10 thefts. A full list of calls for service can be viewed on the department’s Facebook page or at the police department.
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October 04, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A 14-year-old Duquesne resident faces charges in Allegheny County juvenile court after McKeesport police said he was behind the wheel of a stolen car that hit a police cruiser.
The young man, whose name was not released by police, is charged with receiving stolen property, driving without a license and causing an accident involving an occupied vehicle.
McKeesport police said two officers were on patrol early Saturday morning on Evans Avenue when they saw a black Mercury sedan matching the description of a car that had been reported stolen a few hours earlier in Duquesne.
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October 01, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
UPDATED: The victim's identity has now been released. 4:30 p.m.
A 26-year-old McKeesport man was found dead in an alley off of Beaver Street on Monday morning.
The Allegheny County medical examiner's office has identified the victim as Andrew J. Jefferson.
In a prepared statement, Allegheny County police Lt. Andrew Schurman said city police and paramedics were dispatched to the 1800 block of Forte Alley at 12:24 a.m. Monday for a report of "shots being fired."
When they arrived, Schurman said, they found a man, later identified as Jefferson, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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September 23, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A McKeesport woman died Sunday morning when the car in which she was a passenger was struck by another vehicle near Allegheny County Airport.
Marlee Anne Hill, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office said. The accident happened just before 4 a.m.
Allegheny County police Lt. Andrew Schurman said in a prepared statement that Hill was in the back seat of a Volkswagen Jetta sedan that was stopped at the three-way intersection of Lebanon Church Road, Buttermilk Hollow Road and MacArthur Drive.
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September 23, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
(Updated 10 p.m. Sunday)
A Pittsburgh man died following a shooting Saturday afternoon in Duquesne.
A spokesman for the Allegheny County police said Duquesne police and McKeesport paramedics were dispatched to the 1100 block of Grant Avenue just after 4:30 p.m. when callers to 9-1-1 reported that a man had been shot.
When police and paramedics arrived, they found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
The Allegheny County medical examiner's office on Sunday identified the victim as Bronson Szallar, 22. A spokesperson said Szallar was found near the intersection of Pitts Avenue and Wilmot Street. Szallar's death has been ruled a homicide.
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September 17, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
State Rep. Austin Davis, center, and State Sen. Jim Brewster (right, back to camera) participated in a peace walk through McKeesport July 6 following a police-involved shooting in East Pittsburgh. The McKeesport legislators have joined colleagues from Pittsburgh, Forest Hills and Mt. Lebanon to promote police reform legislation. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
In the wake of a police-involved shooting in East Pittsburgh that killed a 17-year-old and roiled the community, several local state legislators have unveiled a package of reform bills.
The legislation would be designed to improve police officer training and salaries; provide incentives for small municipalities to pursue regional police forces; encourage additional community oversight and recruitment of more diverse candidates to become police officers; and provide for an independent response team to investigate police shootings.
Backing the package of bills are state Sens. Jim Brewster of McKeesport, Jay Costa of Forest Hills and Wayne Fontana of Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood, along with state Reps. Austin Davis of McKeesport, Ed Gainey of East Liberty and Jake Wheatley of the Hill District.
“We need to do more to improve the training, quality and support of officers,” Costa said at a press conference last week. “But our improvements need to extend beyond police departments and into communities. I believe the package of bills we are working on can do that.”
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September 07, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
State officials have awarded almost $150,000 to McKeesport police and partner agencies to create a program designed to reduce gun violence in the city.
The grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency was announced Friday by state Sen. Jim Brewster and state Rep. Austin Davis, both of McKeesport.
It will fund a new McKeesport Gun Violence Reduction Program designed by the office of Mayor Mike Cherepko, city police Chief Bryan Washowich, and other local and county leaders, including volunteers and churches.
The program will be modeled after successful strategies used in other cities to get illegal guns off the streets, a spokeswoman for the mayor's office said, and will work with young people in an effort to convince them not to resort to violence in the first place.
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