Criminal Justice

Police are investigating after a 37-year-old man was found dead on the 1400 block of Gaskill Avenue in Salisbury Township.

Sammy Sasso, a former Nazareth Area High School state wrestling champion, is charged with possessing unlicensed guns and a controlled substance after police said they stopped the car he was driving because of an expired registration.

Witness said Jose Vladimir Jerez, 24, of Allentown, was driving erratically while trying to pass another car when he crashed his car into a utility pole in October. A 20-year-old passenger, Ezequiel Hernandez-Cartagena, died less than 90 minutes later.

A former Easton Area High School resource officer who pleaded guilty to sending a sexually explicit image of himself to a 16-year-old female student in 2024 was sentenced to 9-to-24 months in Northampton County Prison, it was announced on Wednesday.

Said Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott, “It’s not used for enforcement. It’s just a means, similar to the news media, of being able to bring up that camera and check the traffic conditions, or if there's an accident, it could be utilized for investigative purposes.”

Angel Martinez-Velez, 25, of Allentown, was shot and killed June 1, 2024, on the basketball court at Allentown's Fountain Park.

Allentown police were called just before 2 a.m. Sunday to a home in the 100 block of Pine Street, where officers found a girl suffering from a gunshot wound to the face, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office.

Police were called to a South Side neighborhood just before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday for a report of a shooting. All of the wounded are expected to survive, police said.

John Gehrmann, stepfather of Palmer teen Enci "Aubrey" Wu, has been charged with illegally recording phone conversations with authorities and other individuals while he was looking into the girl's disappearance.

Mayor Matt Tuerk called on the county's president judge to “issue a public and unambiguous policy” banning ICE agents from county courthouses, a move he said would “be a major step in restoring trust in government and faith in its fairness.”

The hotline, created by the Lehigh Valley Emergency Response Network, will serve as a tool for residents to report concerns about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.

Sunday said his office was investigating Angel Gil, 32, as a cocaine trafficker in Lehigh and Northampton counties before Wednesday’s searches.

Lehigh County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday heard from angry and concerned residents regarding the procedures they believe ICE agents are using at the county courthouse.

An unhoused man is facing multiple charges, including attempted homicide, connected to a shooting June 30 in the area of North Morris and West Allen streets in Allentown.

Video surveillance cameras will be installed at Whitehall Township parks and recreation areas in an attempt to deter vandalism.

The 24-year-old woman “exited the vehicle while it was moving after an altercation with the driver,” according to the Lehigh County coroner.

Authorities charged Treiza Habib, 63, with leaving an accident scene involving death or personal injury, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, failure to render aid, and failing to report an accident.

One motorist was fatally shot by another in a road rage case at Fifth and Hamilton streets in Allentown. When the driver came out of his car swinging a baseball bat, was he putting the other at risk of death or severe injury? The Lehigh County district attorney will decide.

A motorist shot and killed early Sunday after he allegedly attacked another driver in a road rage incident has been identified by authorities. He was a former Kutztown University basketball player.

The GEO Group, one of the world's largest private prison companies, publicly considered building a detention center in Upper Mount Bethel Township in 2010. The project instead went to Newark, where Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested earlier this year after seeking to tour the facility.

Authorities charged the Fountain Hill teen with three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of recklessly endangering others and a single count of carrying a firearm without a license.

The shooter fired a single shot after the other driver got out of his car and attacked him with a baseball bat, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office. The dead man is a 35-year-old from Whitehall, the coroner said.