Criminal Justice

Mayor David Heintzelman announced a new “officer in charge” of the Hellertown Police Department. One official said if the borough added six full-time officers as recommended in a report, taxpayers would bear the brunt of an estimated 35% property tax increase.

The powerful animal tranquilizer is showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and is contributing to a growing number of overdose deaths, including in the Lehigh Valley.

Someone robbed a bank in west Allentown while police responded Monday to a report of an armed person on the college campus, according to police.

A 29-year-old former Parkland student, who lived in a home owned by district performing arts director Frank Anonia, was sentenced to county prison last month on a charge of possessing child pornography.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced on Friday that six persons have been charged in a large-scale burglary ring throughout the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas.

A Palmer Township police officer has been arrested for allegedly sending inappropriate images of himself to an underage Easton Area High School student, authorities said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that a Lehigh County man has been sentenced to prison for his role in a January 2023 shooting in Allentown.

Northampton County officials said Wednesday that while a staffing crisis at the county's juvenile justice center has eased over the past few months, they are still turning kids away because of a worker shortage.

Bryan Kohberger, charged in the killings of 4 University of Idaho students, resided in Monroe County, Pa., and is a graduate of DeSales University and Northampton Community College.

An Easton woman is facing numerous charges after investigators said she smuggled a cell phone and drugs into Northampton County Prison — items later found in possession of two inmates.

Yaniel Fermin, 17, is charged with homicide, possession with intent to deliver controlled substances and possession of a firearm by a minor in the death of Jeomy Miguel Soto, 19. Soto was shot Thursday in Allentown.

Three unidentified juveniles were charged with criminal mischief in connection with the damages, which cost the city about $47,000.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has used county office space but hasn't paid rent in three years despite a 2022 memorandum of understanding, county officials said. Said Controller Mark Pinsley: "We're going to deport ICE."

A county judge heard arguments Friday for and against releasing the two pages from a sealed grand jury presentment that deals with the drug-charge allegations against Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi, of Bethlehem.

Lehigh County prosecutors tried to avoid the standard procedures for criminal court by bypassing defendants' preliminary hearings. Instead, Lehigh County Judge Thomas Caffrey ruled the cases should proceed Friday morning as scheduled.

Former Forks Township Police Chief Michael Friel announced his retirement in December. Township supervisors approved a separation agreement but refused to disclose it until a Right-to-Know request was filed.

Grelvis Estevez Cabrera, 29, received the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder in the killing of 25-year-old Angel Martinez-Velez in June 2024 in Allentown.

Catasauqua Borough Police are leading the investigation, with assistance from the State Police Forensics Services Unit and the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.

A Lehigh County judge has denied an appeal that sought to clear the way for Nexus 78, a 501,000-square-foot warehouse proposed for North Whitehall Township. The ruling is unlikely to be the last word in the fight over the warehouse's fate.

An investigation is underway into a non-fatal police shooting that occurred Sunday at the former Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.

The Bethlehem Police Department is giving kudos to one of its officers, who went beyond simply making a report when he responded to a call for a burglary.

The victim, 29-year-old Rigiberto Hernandez Arias of Allentown, died Nov. 21 after being run over near Emaus Avenue and South Fourth Street in Allentown. An Amazon delivery driver, 30-year-old Troy Johnson, is in Lehigh County Jail on $500,000 bail.