Criminal Justice

Bethlehem City Council unanimously approved BPD to join other Lehigh County agencies to combat crime through the use of shared investigative data.

The 29 arrests Bethlehem Police made during Musikfest were a slight increase from last year's event, the department reported on Tuesday.

Robert Bowen, 53, of Bethlehem, has been charged with involvement in the detonation of at least four other explosive devices in the city. Federal and local agents searched his Wyandotte Street home earlier this month. They say they found bomb-making materials, grenades, drugs and a homemade gun.

State law gives Northampton County Republicans a little over a week to find a candidate willing to take on Democrat Stephen Baratta in a high-profile race for district attorney.

On Sunday, the Allentown Police Department premiered a new color scheme for its vehicles, featuring a black-and-white aesthetic that leaders say is meant to convey recognition and authority.

Easton City Councilwoman Taiba Sultana made her first appearance since her arrest for accusations of simple assault and harassment in a domestic violence case.

A Pennsylvania State Police trooper was justified when he shot at a 47-year-old Allentown man who allegedly drove at the trooper, according to Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin.

Residents near the area had been asked to shelter in place.

Robert Bowen Jr. is being held at Northampton County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail. Police said they found him in possession of explosives and a homemade gun after he said he intended to detonate a bomb at Musikfest.

Armed with a search warrant, Bethlehem police say they detained a man Friday who allegedly made statements of his intent to build and detonate an improvised explosive during Musikfest.

The former West Easton clerk is charged with three felonies for allegedly accepting cash payments for residents' bills but never depositing the money in a borough account. He never returned to work after being sent a text informing him of his suspension in 2023, court records show.

Police said Amir Sims-Watson, 17, opened fire on a group of pedestrians in Allentown before robbing a woman at gunpoint at Trexler Middle School. Two other teens are charged in the shooting.

Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone will host a Clean Slate information session this July to help eligible individuals get on the path to clear their criminal record.

Federal immigration officials on Friday issued their first statement since arresting 17 people at the Five10 Flats on June 11. Mayor J. Williams Reynolds this week described the arrests as "an American tragedy."

District Attorney Gavin Holihan said Gary J. Moyer 73, of South Whitehall, left a note among his final words saying, “Please convey my apologies to the officer who gets stuck shooting me.”

LaTarsha Brown, who works in the city's Department of Community and Economic Development, did not appear Tuesday in Lehigh County Court.

Christian Lopez-Rodriguez, 21, of Allentown, was shot and killed Oct. 17, 2020, during a robbery on the Hamilton Street bridge.

About 500 people rallied at two spots Thursday night — outside the Five10 Flats building where ICE agents arrested 17 people the day before, and at Bethlehem City Hall.

Easton City Council has officially adopted a change that will see possession and use of small amounts of marijuana reduced to a citation and fine as opposed to a misdemeanor crime.

Earlier Wednesday, Bethlehem Police Department said in a release that shortly before 7 a.m., it "received a courtesy notification from agents with the Department of Homeland Security that federal agents were actively searching" for the individual. The search involved the area of the 500 block of East 3rd Street, police said.

Between March 2020 and September 2023, Louis Belletieri transferred millions from an escrow account to his personal and business accounts, according to federal prosecutors.

More than a dozen volunteers on Tuesday committed their service to the community’s schoolchildren who find themselves at odds with the law for the first time.