Criminal Justice

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.

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.

The police pups will appear at the Petersville Gun and Rod Club's Basket Social on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Sammy Sasso, a state champion wrestler from Nazareth Area High School, was shot Aug. 18 in a carjacking near Ohio State University, where he is a student.

Visitors to an open house on Saturday, Sept. 9, can meet the six equine officers of the Bethlehem Police Department and their partners.

Danelo Cavalcante, who escaped from Chester County Prison last week, has been on the run for six days. He was convicted last month of killing his girlfriend and is extremely dangerous, according to authorities.

Lehigh County officials determined the proposed legislation had more than a dozen problems, making it too problematic to present to Allentown voters. The bill would have dispatched an EMT and mental health professional to certain calls and prohibited other first responders from going.

About 40 people protested at Lehigh Valley Hospital Wednesday. Many said they or someone they knew had been falsely accused of medical child abuse by LVHN doctors.

Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office warns residents about a surge in telephone scams and offers tips on avoiding fraudulent calls.

Police in Columbus, Ohio, arrested a 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl and charged them with aggravated robbery and felony assault in the Aug. 18 attack near Ohio State University.

Pennsylvania will not release a state-maintained database of certified police officers, even after a national coalition of newsrooms asked Gov. Josh Shapiro to intervene.

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency awarded Bethlehem a $726,000 grant in January to provide programming intended to reduce violence in five neighborhoods. City officials will begin surveying residents about their needs next week.

A woman accused of intentionally abandoning her dog at a Pennsylvania airport before she boarded a flight to a resort in Mexico earlier this month has been charged with animal cruelty and related charges.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Dominick Hogans ran from police and then shot at them July 24, 2023. Officers were within their rights when they returned fire, fatally shooting him nine times, Martin said.