Criminal Justice

Officials and residents of several New Jersey shore towns say the state’s law decriminalizing marijuana use is having an unintended effect: emboldening large groups of teenagers to run amok on beaches and boardwalks, knowing there is little chance of them getting in trouble for it.

An argument over alleged misinterpretations of a Facebook post featuring video of West Ward WISE's Lance Wheeler's arrest broke out during Easton City Council's meeting Wednesday night.

An Allentown police officer was arrested and charged Tuesday with attempted homicide and related counts, court records show. He was ordered to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $750,000 bail.

Prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty against a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death late last year.

One hookah lounge owner said he bought a metal detector and is doing all he can to ensure customers are safe, but he wants help from police.

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after one person was hurt Sunday morning in a shooting at the Waffle House on Airport Road, according to Trooper Nathan Branosky.

The Bethlehem Police Department is working to revamp and expand its surveillance capabilities throughout the city, with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

'After-hours' establishments could face huge fines — and potential closure — for violating nuisance-abatement ordinances, under a resolution introduced by the city council. Council was critical of the Tuerk administration's response to violence.

The Northampton County district attorney recently asked if the Bethlehem Police Department would dedicate an officer to a part-time role in a human trafficking task force.

An Allentown hookah lounge where a 29-year-old man was fatally stabbed over the weekend is facing eviction, according to court documents.

The gunman showed up uninvited at a gathering outside a borough home late on the Fourth of July, borough police said. He fled after shooting three people as well as apparently accidentally shooting himself in the leg, the police chief said. The 18-year-old is being charged with several assault and weapons crimes.

The $2.75 million payment to the federal government resolves allegations that a pharmacy technician stole controlled substances on about 40 occasions and the health network failed to institute proper controls.

More than two years after the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, the former Northampton Community College and DeSales University student pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty.

Multiple media outlets report Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students as part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty. A change of plea hearing is set for Wednesday. Kohberger’s trial had been set to begin in August

Jorge Gonzalez, 40, is accused of killing 85-year-old Elian Makdsi in October 2023 as he was in the intersection at North Jerome Street and Union Boulevard.

Christopher Fitzgerald was a former Lehigh County corrections officer and is the son of former Allentown Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald. He was the first Temple University officer killed in the line of duty.

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.”