Criminal Justice

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.

Two people were wounded in the 300 block of Ridge Avenue. Allentown police were called there as they investigated a separate shooting blocks away in which a 1-year-old and his grandmother were shot to death in their home.

The Lehigh County jail has held two voluntary mass clinics with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine since May, putting shots into 322 arms. Corrections Director Janine Donate said now they’ve switched strategies: they are waiting until they get enough inmates interested - about four or five - to use up a vial of vaccine.

The Allentown Police Department is hoping to expand a program that could reduce some interactions with law enforcement and help connect people with social services.

The Bethlehem Police Department is once again hosting its annual Citizens Police Academy after a pandemic-related hiatus.

Lehigh Valley advocates for criminal justice reform are calling on area law enforcement departments to increase transparency, emphasizing how use-of-force incidents are documented.

Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach denies any wrongdoing after being charged with child endangerment in Lehigh County and says she has not committed any crimes.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced charges June 29 against Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach for endangering the welfare of a child and failing to report suspected child abuse, both misdemeanors.

A freshman Philadelphia Democrat has set off a firestorm in Harrisburg by proposing a bill that would establish new mandatory minimum sentences — an approach much more in line with Republicans’ criminal justice platform than his own party’s.

Allentown Police Chief Glenn Granitz is stepping down and taking the same position at the West Reading Police Department.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said the incident began on Route 22 near the exit for Route 309 and Cedar Crest Blvd. when an adult male driving a white Toyota Corolla allegedly shot at a white car being driven by a woman.

Police chiefs from Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton gathered with community members on April 12 to discuss ways to build trust with local law enforcement after a year rocked by protests over police brutality.

Allentown officials are considering whether to invest in a multi-million dollar program that aims to curb city gun violence. Neighborhood advocates say it appears to have reduced shootings in some other major U.S. cities.

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The DeSales University community is grieving the loss of three of its own. Two graduates and one student died March 6 in Upper Saucon…