Criminal Justice

Brenda Rodriguez, 52, of Palmerton, is the final of three defendants to be sentenced in the Dec. 7, 2024, shooting death of her husband, Hector Garcia Gomez, in the parking lot of Loco Hot Deals, 1155 MacArthur Road.

Eric Dowdle led Lehigh County’s prosecution against two former Allentown vice officers before state attorneys took over those cases.

More than three dozen law enforcement professionals from the Lehigh Valley and beyond took part in the first training at the newly opened Joni Berner Esq ‘75-Expert Witness Training Center & Crime Scene Laboratory.

Two men are in Northampton County Prison after a traffic stop and vehicle search yielded the seizure of about 20,000 fentanyl pills.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced Thursday that an Allentown man charged in a fatal shooting outside a child's birthday party last year has been sentenced. He will serve 11 ½ to 28 years in state prison in the death of an Alburtis man.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has filed an emergency motion in Lehigh County Court requesting that a judge unseal documents in at least 22 criminal cases tied to an interstate drug ring. Among the defendants is Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi.

After his ousting in August 2023, Nadeem Shahzad pledged to sue the city for terminating him without cause.

Alfeni Romero-Taveras, 22, of Allentown, was charged Friday in the June 1, 2024, death of Angel Martinez-Velez on a basketball court at Fountain Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Two men face felony charges for stealing nearly $100,000 from Lowe's stores across the state. Investigators say the men used self-checkout kiosks to make purchases with their cell phones using information stolen from Lowe's customer accounts.

Police responded to a report of an armed person at Innovative Arts Academy in Catasauqua on Tuesday afternoon. An investigation is ongoing.

The victim was shot and died at Fountain Park in the 900 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, authorities said. Police say anyone with information or video regarding the incident should call investigators at 610-437-7721.

Rami Abouloh is set to be sentenced Aug. 13; first-degree-murder convictions in Pennsylvania carry a mandatory life sentence.

Emergency crews worked for more than an hour Tuesday morning near Fourth and Hamilton streets to recover the body of a 60-year-old Allentown man.

A joint enforcement between Pennsylvania State Police and the Allentown Police Department resulted in dozens of traffic citations in just two hours on American Parkway. One driver was going 69 mph in the 40 mph zone, state police said.

U.S. District Judge John Gallagher ruled Marc Muffley, of Lansford, Pa., recklessly endangered passengers at Lehigh Valley International Airport in 2023 when he packed a can of butane, a fireworks mortar, a torch lighter and lithium ion batteries in his baggage.

Northampton County becomes the 30th county in Pennsylvania to adopt the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative, or LETI, which enables those seeking treatment for substance use disorder to contact probation and parole services without fear of criminal charges being filed.

Former Hellertown Police chief Robert Shupp appeared in district court Wednesday to waive his preliminary hearing.

That funding adds to a recent $984,000 contract for “citywide surveillance” and a $1.5 million program for gunshot-detection technology and license-plate readers.

Pennsylvania State Police say Jared Gerhard, 30, touched a 17-year-old girl inside a Lower Macungie Township Marshall's Friday while she was shopping with her family.

The 53-year-old cycling champion, who spent a year on probation after pleading guilty in February 2023 in a previous stalking and harassment case, is now charged in a case investigated by the Bethlehem Police Department.

Catherine Henry, a senior litigator in the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, has been nominated by President Joe Biden to fill the vacancy left by the death of U.S. District Court Judge Edward Smith.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is poised to sign a bill that requires Pennsylvania State Police and many other law enforcement agencies to collect data on drivers pulled over during traffic stops, including their race or ethnicity.