Criminal Justice

The Lehigh County District Attorney's Office is investigating the fatal shooting that occurred in the 100 block of North 38th Street in South Whitehall on Wednesday afternoon.

Former Hellertown Police Chief Robert Shupp, who was recently sentenced to prison time for stealing money from the borough, is lined up to get about $32,000 in pension contributions with an approval from Borough Council.

Pennsylvania State Police have rolled out 15 RapidHIT ID systems to troops across the commonwealth. The machines are capable of analyzing forensic samples and generating DNA profiles in as little as 90 minutes.

Palmer Township police officer John Smoke faces up to five years in prison. Authorities accused him of sending the photo to a 16-year-old while he was assigned to Easton Area High School as a resource officer.

Police have charged an Easton man in connection with a recent chop shop investigation. Angel Vidal faces several felony and misdemeanor charges as he awaits a preliminary hearing in Northampton County Prison.

Incidents in the dashboard date only to the start of 2024, which Mayor Matt Tuerk and Police Chief Charles Roca have touted as having historically low crime and homicide rates.

Police are seeking witnesses to a hit-and-run crash on Industrial Drive in Bethlehem that left a pedestrian with serious injuries.

The expanded police department’s finish will set in motion another project in downtown Allentown.

The Northampton County Drug Task Force raided four convenience stores Thursday — three in the Slate Belt and one in East Allen Township. Besides the cash seized, authorities said the value of products confiscated surpassed $400,000.

Elijah Patterson, 19, of Allentown, was found guilty of first-degree murder and other charges after a three-day Lehigh County Jury trial in March.

Northampton County officials appointed a new sheriff Wednesday: Christopher Zieger, formerly the department’s second-in-command.

The former West Easton clerk is charged with three felonies for allegedly accepting cash payments for residents' bills but never depositing the money in a borough account. He never returned to work after being sent a text informing him of his suspension in 2023, court records show.

Police said Amir Sims-Watson, 17, opened fire on a group of pedestrians in Allentown before robbing a woman at gunpoint at Trexler Middle School. Two other teens are charged in the shooting.

Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone will host a Clean Slate information session this July to help eligible individuals get on the path to clear their criminal record.

Federal immigration officials on Friday issued their first statement since arresting 17 people at the Five10 Flats on June 11. Mayor J. Williams Reynolds this week described the arrests as "an American tragedy."

District Attorney Gavin Holihan said Gary J. Moyer 73, of South Whitehall, left a note among his final words saying, “Please convey my apologies to the officer who gets stuck shooting me.”

LaTarsha Brown, who works in the city's Department of Community and Economic Development, did not appear Tuesday in Lehigh County Court.

Christian Lopez-Rodriguez, 21, of Allentown, was shot and killed Oct. 17, 2020, during a robbery on the Hamilton Street bridge.

About 500 people rallied at two spots Thursday night — outside the Five10 Flats building where ICE agents arrested 17 people the day before, and at Bethlehem City Hall.

Easton City Council has officially adopted a change that will see possession and use of small amounts of marijuana reduced to a citation and fine as opposed to a misdemeanor crime.

Earlier Wednesday, Bethlehem Police Department said in a release that shortly before 7 a.m., it "received a courtesy notification from agents with the Department of Homeland Security that federal agents were actively searching" for the individual. The search involved the area of the 500 block of East 3rd Street, police said.

Between March 2020 and September 2023, Louis Belletieri transferred millions from an escrow account to his personal and business accounts, according to federal prosecutors.