Criminal Justice

Four people were victims of homicides in Allentown last year; 19 people were killed in homicides in 2023, according to data from the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office.

FOP Washington Lodge #17, representing Easton Police Department officers, announced the approval of a new four-year contract with the city, set to be settled with council on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.

A man was carjacked at gunpoint Thursday after arranging a deal on Facebook Marketplace to sell shoes to two men, according to court documents.

The body of Jesse Rutt, of Walnutport, was discovered at 11:34 p.m. in the area of the Slate Heritage Trail in the 300 block of East Church Street.

Daniel Leibensperger, 34, of Emmaus, was charged Dec. 19, the day after after his girlfriend was stabbed, authorities said Tuesday in a news release. Leibensperger's body was found Dec. 26 in Allentown's Jordan Creek.

The body of an unidentified man was discovered Monday in the water of an underground quarry, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office said.

Donations for 30 residents displaced can be made online or via mail (checks payable to UWGLV, 1110 American Parkway NE, Suite F-120, Allentown 18109 — attention “Cedar Street Fire Fund”).

Flames trapped a woman in the basement of her home, according to charges filed against Santos Mota-Ramirez. Police say he set the fire after trying to fatally stab another woman. The blaze affected seven row homes Thursday night and displaced 30 people.

Neighbors and community leaders responded to a row home fire that spread to other homes on West Cedar Street in Allentown on Thursday night.

Fountain Hill police and the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office charged two men with breaking into the Fountain Hill Pharmacy and opening fire on police, which led to a standoff and lockdown on Christmas Eve.

A group of about 300 Lehigh University students carried the goalpost more than four miles from Goodman Stadium into South Bethlehem after the Lehigh football team's defeat of rival Lafayette on Saturday. On Monday, Lehigh apologized for the incident.

The whistleblower lawsuit details an alleged theft at the center of recently filed felony charges against a former Allentown Vice officer.

Palmer Township resident Andrew Wolke, 53, faces arson charges after investigators alleged he attempted to set fire to his house after being accused of indecent assault and corruption of minors.

A Palmer Township man has been arrested and charged with corruption of minors and related crimes against a high school student. Police say they are investigating "several incidents."

The 35-year-old woman faces up to 5 to 20 years in prison in connection with the child's death in April 2021. Authorities said she left the boy in the care of his visibly intoxicated father after giving the man what she believed was heroin.

Nicole Ann Stauffer, 47, of Bethlehem, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in her 2-year-old son's death in July 2022 She was sentenced Wednesday in Northampton County Court to 21 to 120 months in state prison.

In a span of about 20 minutes, Emmaus Borough Council thanked retiring Fire Chief John H. Price — he's been involved in fire service for 47 years — and swore in new police officer Matthew James Hutchins.

Lehigh County Coroner Dan Buglio says a new post-mortem CT scanner should be up and running in 4 to 8 weeks.

William Arthur Strunk of Stroudsburg entered the plea Friday before Judge Paula A. Roscioli, Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta said in a release Monday.

Allentown police are investigating the incident that they say occurred early Saturday night after they were called to the 1100 block of Fullerton Avenue.

Jason Krasley was a member of the Allentown Police Department's Vice Unit in May 2019 when $5,500 was taken during a search at a Hamilton Street barbershop.

Lehigh County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to seek state funding to study whether several municipal police departments in the county should be combined.