Criminal Justice

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.

Take a look at stories throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

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.

Authorities say an employee at the Giant supermarket at 7150 Hamilton Boulevard in Lower Macungie Township put sewing needles into grocery items. The juvenile worker has been identified and charges are pending.

University police are looking for information on a screaming incident that occurred on Lehigh's campus over the weekend.

Police found no evidence that a 21-year-old Allentown man was trying to steal from vehicles before he was fatally shot last month by a resident, who was also fatally shot, authorities announced Tuesday.

Joseph Roy, the superintendent of the Bethlehem Area School District, is being sued in federal court by Liberty High School Assistant Principal Antonio Traca. Roy says he has never struck a district employee. Read the complaint here.

Allentown police launched their investigation after an officer found her car in a different spot than where she parked it.

The U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the scope of an anti-bribery law used to send former Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski to federal prison. But Scott Curtis, the former FBI agent who led the investigation, said the ruling shouldn't be of much help to Pawlowski's appeals.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan released body-camera footage Friday from a June 22 arrest that led to claims of excessive force by Allentown cops.

A review of hundreds of decisions made by a powerful state oversight board sheds light on how Pennsylvania counties will be allowed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars from opioid settlements.

Allentown City Council members are preparing for potential litigation against the mayor for putting "roadblocks" in the way of an investigation into allegations of workplace discrimination and racism.

Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley held its inaugural State of PNLV address on Tuesday at the Renaissance Hotel in Allentown.

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on Monday night slammed some council members' "efforts to smear me and this administration" with a long-awaited investigation at City Hall.

A Lehigh University student was found to have forged documents to get into the school. He will now be deported after authorities investigated his admission of the scheme on Reddit, they said.

A video recording shows an Allentown police officer delivering seven blows to 29-year-old Michael Iucolino’s leg as three other officers surrounded him on the ground. He was then shocked with a Taser. Police said Iucolino "continued to be an assailant throughout the entire encounter."

Officers called to a shooting in Bethlehem found a man with a gunshot wound to the body. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital in critical condition, police said.

Joshua Ortiz, 28, of Allentown, had pleaded guilty April 22 to attempted murder — a first-degree felony — in the June 4, 2023, incident in the parking lot of AutoZone, 1871 S. Fifth St., Allentown.

Allentown authorities have released the names and images of two individuals suspected of being involved in the shooting of an 11-year-old boy on June 13. 2024, and are asking for help finding the pair.