Criminal Justice

Lehigh used its HawkWatch alert system Sunday to inform the campus community of events as they were happening.

Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio is working to determine the identity of skeletal remains discovered by hikers in Canal Park in Allentown in April 1991. Forensic analysis has shown the remains to be an African-American male, aged 25-35 at time of death, who grew up in the South.

Stephen Baratta spent more than $115,000 in his bid for Northampton County district attorney, not including in-kind contributions of nearly $50,000. Incumbent Terry Houck raised nearly $100,000, according to campaign finance reports.

Allentown police said they tried to stop the group of off-road vehicles near Fourth and Gordon streets on April 27.

A proposal to establish a one-year pilot program for EMTs and mental health specialists to respond to some 911 calls could be on November ballots if the Allentown City Council doesn't approve it.

Two women filed protection-from-abuse complaints against Moore Township Police Office Johnathan Miklich. The women claim he has been abusive, attempted to hire someone to kidnap and beat one of them and tried to enter a home where they were meeting with an attorney when he was supposed to be on duty.

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A juvenile suspect has been charged with misdemeanor counts as a result of a state police investigation of sewing needles in food at the Giant.

The four men, ages 21-22, shouted racial slurs at the victim before following him home and attacking him, according to investigators.

Charges against Christopher Ferrante can head to trial in Northampton County Court. The case has dominated the district attorney race between incumbent Terry Houck and challenger Stephen Baratta.

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.

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.