Criminal Justice

Pennsylvania’s distracted driving law will take full effect in 2026, marking one of the most consequential legal shifts for motorists in years and headlining a slate of new laws set to roll out across the Commonwealth.

Northampton County awarded 49 Public Safety Grant Awards, totaling $600,000, announced Friday by county Executive Lamont G. McClure.

Shaba Xavier Hill, 26, of Allentown, fatally struck the 77-year-old victim at Springhouse Road and Springwood Drive on Oct. 30, 2022. His sentencing hearing was held Tuesday before Lehigh County Court Judge Thomas Caffrey.

Costas Alestas, a 17-year veteran of the Bethlehem Police Department, was fired after the allegations came to light. He worked as a school resource officer at East Hills Middl School in the Bethlehem Area School District.

David J. Gibbs, 34, was killed and two others were hurt in a shooting early Friday morning inside Big Woody's Sports Bar and Restaurant on Allentown’s East Side, authorities said.

Anderson Jorge Cruz, 27, no known address, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter-unreasonable belief, a first-degree felony, for killing Juan Alfredo Sanchez, 24.

The delivery driver was wanted on a warrant issued Dec. 10 on charges of third-degree murder in the Nov. 21 killing of 29-year-old Rigiberto Hernandez Arias, of Allentown, authorities said.

Several signature displays — valued at more than $60,000 — were unsalvageable and declared “total losses" after vandals struck over the weekend at Lights in the Parkway, according to officials.

“Every time someone makes the intentional decision to get behind the wheel intoxicated, they endanger every person they encounter on the roadway,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “I have seen far too many tragedies caused by completely avoidable vehicle crashes rooted to DUI.”

Lights in the Parkway will be closed Sunday night after significant vandalism caused extensive damage to holiday light displays and park facilities at Lehigh Parkway, according to Allentown officials.

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.

Kirk Chin Jr., 37, of Pottstown, Montgomery County, is charged with misdemeanor charges of recklessly endangering another person and reckless driving.

The school district alerted the community about three hours after an incident involving pepper spray occurred in the upstairs cafeteria of Emmaus High School on Wednesday afternoon. Legislation that went into effect this month requires districts to alert parents, guardians and teachers of school weapon incidents.

An external audit of 114 cases handled by former U.S. Center for SafeSport investigator Jason Krasley — a former Allentown police officer — led to the watchdog agency's reopening of three of those cases.

Sarah A. Rice, 39, and Greg A. Johnson, 42, both of Bethlehem, died from wounds to the head, Coroner Daniel Buglio ruled after autopsies Monday.

Bethlehem police said the couple had three children. The man and the woman were both found suffering from gunshot wounds in the basement of a home in the 200 block of 10th Avenue.

Police were called Friday night to a residence in the 200 block of 10th Avenue in Bethlehem. There they found a 39-year-old woman dead and a 42-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the Lehigh County Coroner's Office.

A former tenant tied to a massive fire at their South Bethlehem apartment building will not face criminal charges, according to city police.

The 33-year-old was seen on surveillance footage throwing rocks at the building's doors, according to charging documents.