Criminal Justice

At a press conference Thursday, DA candidate Stephen Baratta criticized incumbent district attorney Terry Houck over three cases from his tenure. Houck hit back in response.

Court officials from Northampton County first asked for help getting more staff over a year ago. Since November, the center netted no new full-time hires.

Two 15-year-old girls were removed from Northampton Area High School and will be charged after several threats of violence were made against the school.

A motorcade of 40 dirt bikes and ATVs ignored traffic laws and endangered others last year. They also delayed an injured Allentown detective from getting medical treatment. Only one driver, a Pen Argyl man, has been identified and charged.

Allentown police are investigating a homicide after a 38-year-old Allentown man died days after he was assaulted, according to the Lehigh County coroner.

It happened a little before 7 p.m. Wednesday at Easton Avenue and Beech Street in Bethlehem.

Clement Swaby was sentenced to up to 150 years in prison in the 2020 rape of a Lehigh University student, plus subsequent break-ins and attempted sexual assaults in Easton.

Lehigh County Judge Thomas Capehart denied the appeal of Patrick Palmer, who argued election staff should accept his paperwork because he paid a filing fee on time.

Patrick Palmer, an Allentown School Board director, argued in Lehigh County Court he should not be denied a spot on the primary ballot. County officials ruled he missed the March 7 filing deadline by a matter of seconds.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s nominees for attorney general and state police commissioner received unanimous approval from the Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate.

The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office handed cases against two former Allentown vice officers to the Pennsylvania Attorney’s General’s Office due to a potential conflict of interest.

A few dozen drivers, both behind the wheel and walking — and with a quick showing of their vehicle registration and proof of insurance — had come through for their free wheel lock as of 30 minutes into the event.

Troopers said the incident began around 5:25 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20 when an undercover member of Troop M’s vice unit saw a vehicle pull into the Knights Inn.

State police say they clocked an underage, intoxicated driver in a vehicle traveling 109 mph on Route 378, and he had five underage, intoxicated passengers in the car who admitted coming from and consuming alcohol at Musikfest.

South Whitehall Police Department's K-9, Drax, is retiring from the force after seven years of service, and taking up the easy life with his longtime work partner and handler.

Students shared a text from the Villanova alert system that told them to lock and barricade doors and move to secure locations. A second alert from Villanova officials warned people to stay away from the law school.

Isiah Yeager, 25, is due to stand trial Oct. 20 — 28 months after he was charged with homicide in connection with a fatal stabbing at Synergy Hookah Lounge.

Ashton Jordan Thomas, 18, of Stewartsville, New Jersey, turned himself in to the Bethlehem Police Department this week, authorities said.

Allowing some residents to stay at the encampment for an extra month is “the safest and most humane course of action,” Mayor Matt Tuerk said. But no one else will be allowed to set up camp there before its closure.

ICE agents have agreed not to wear masks and to present ID and warrants when operating inside the Lehigh County Courthouse. But county officials declined to spell out specific procedures for ICE inside the courthouses.

The drowning death of a Hanover Township, Northampton County, child in July has been ruled accidental, the district attorney said.

On a narrow residential street, Etienne Theagene was driving 40.7 mph when he struck and killed Edward Tomcics, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.