Criminal Justice

It happened a little before 7 p.m. Wednesday at Easton Avenue and Beech Street in Bethlehem.

Clement Swaby was sentenced to up to 150 years in prison in the 2020 rape of a Lehigh University student, plus subsequent break-ins and attempted sexual assaults in Easton.

Lehigh County Judge Thomas Capehart denied the appeal of Patrick Palmer, who argued election staff should accept his paperwork because he paid a filing fee on time.

Patrick Palmer, an Allentown School Board director, argued in Lehigh County Court he should not be denied a spot on the primary ballot. County officials ruled he missed the March 7 filing deadline by a matter of seconds.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s nominees for attorney general and state police commissioner received unanimous approval from the Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate.

Lehigh Valley Health Network was victimized in a cybersecurity attack last month. The network said it refused to pay a ransom. Now, patient information and photos have been posted on the dark web, according to LVHN.

The force, made up of municipal, county and federal investigators, is designed to fight the sexual exploitation of children in the county, along with human trafficking more broadly.

Marc Muffley was arrested at his home in Lansford, Carbon County, on Monday night. A hearing is set for Thursday afternoon in federal court in Allentown on charges that include possessing an explosive device at an airport.

On Thursday, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin declared that a city police officer was justified in fatally shooting an armed man during a foot chase last month.

The FBI said Marc Muffley, 40, of Lansford, Carbon County, left the airport Monday after checking a bag that was to be loaded on an Allegiant flight from Allentown to Sanford, Fla.

Lehigh County commissioners are evaluating a proposal that would create a new program for individuals recently released from prison by engaging them before release and following them to ensure they stay employed and do not reoffend.

A driver was pulled over shortly after noon Monday, and ran into the woods before being arrested along I-78, police said.

Emmaus Public Library hosted a workshop highlighting common types of scams and fraud — and how to keep from falling victim to them in the holiday season and beyond.

Grubhub will now disclose the app has higher prices than restaurants, in order to be more transparent. They will also make a donation to Pennsylvania food banks, instead of paying damages.

During the 2021 Thanksgiving enforcement period, Pennsylvania State Police Troop M was very active.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has corrected a decades-old flaw in state law that left severely mentally ill people behind bars indefinitely, and highlighted lingering problems for the man at the center of the case, and others like him.

A Black university student was victimized by white assailants who directed racial epithets at the student, according to a statement from the Lehigh University president.

The Northampton County coroner is investigating and has identified the remains as belonging to William Edelman Jr. of Catasauqua.

Several anonymous tips on school threats over the past two weeks have been found false, according to the Allentown Police Department.

Dieruff and Allen high schools and Trexler Middle School were locked down Monday after multiple unsubstantiated threats of mass violence were made to the district. Additional threats were made to Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, which also closed for the remainder of the day.

Allentown's police chief, Charles Roca, is looking to grow the number of officers patrolling city streets, add new vehicles to the city's fleet and is investigating the possibility of installing gunshot detection equipment in neighborhoods across the city.

LCTI students were either evacuated from the building or sent back to home schools if en route