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.

Frank Anonia, 43, who resigned as the Parkland School District's visual and performing arts director, is charged with secretly recording a student getting changed in a high school auditorium dressing room in 2021.

IRS Criminal Investigation special agents visited Moravian University during a full-day criminal investigation simulation known as the citizen academy.

Kameron Barnes Nuble, 34, had enough evidence against him presented at a preliminary hearing Friday to support charges of homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide in the death of Legious Minder, 46, District Justice Robert Hawke ruled.

Francis 'Frank' Anonia, 43, was charged by Lehigh County detectives with multiple counts of invasion of privacy, criminal use of a communication facility and other offenses, according to court records.

Carly Grozier died as the result of injuries sustained in a gas explosion in off-campus housing at West Virginia University. "For us, this issue is much larger than Carly," her mother said.

A 56-year-old South Whitehall Township man was the victim of a shooting early Friday, according to authorities.

Gianni Santini, 17, is accused of killing 30-year-old Altaron A. Robinson after they allegedly arranged a drug deal near Governor Wolf Elementary School in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem police took a 17-year-old into custody late Friday in connection with the fatal shooting. A 30-year-old Allentown man was identified as the victim.

Bethlehem police are investigating a shooting that occurred in the 1900 block of Butztown Road on Thursday night. They've issued an arrest warrant for Gianni Santini, 17.

A Lehigh County judge sentenced Rami Abouloh to life in prison Thursday for fatally shooting his wife and wounding a man in a Whitehall Township park in 2023.

Rajgion Davis of Whitehall, was ordered by District Judge Jacob E. Hammond at a preliminary hearing Wednesday to face homicide and two counts each of attempted murder and aggravated assault, all first-degree felonies.

Allentown’s Cleveland School is set to be knocked down and fenced off after its new owner called it a “hot spot" and "magnet for crime." Community Action Lehigh Valley is planning to build a $20 million youth center but wants to secure the property until construction can start.