Criminal Justice

The Bethlehem Police Department is working to revamp and expand its surveillance capabilities throughout the city, with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

'After-hours' establishments could face huge fines — and potential closure — for violating nuisance-abatement ordinances, under a resolution introduced by the city council. Council was critical of the Tuerk administration's response to violence.

The Northampton County district attorney recently asked if the Bethlehem Police Department would dedicate an officer to a part-time role in a human trafficking task force.

An Allentown hookah lounge where a 29-year-old man was fatally stabbed over the weekend is facing eviction, according to court documents.

Isiah Yeager, 23, of Allentown, is facing a criminal homicide charge after police said he twice stabbed 29-year-old Kevin Tarafa, of Bethlehem, at Synergy Hookah Lounge on Allentown's East Side.

Pennsylvania State Police on Monday night said the driver, a 47-year-old man from Allentown, was not struck by gunfire, as state police initially reported. A trooper fired two rounds after a traffic stop Friday night at South Third and West Union streets. The driver was ordered to Lehigh County Jail.

Sunday’s fatal stabbing at Synergy Hookah Lounge on Union Boulevard in Allentown was “the last straw,” the building's owner said, adding he wants the business “gone like cancer.”

A trooper and a suspect both were shot and killed in a shootout in central Pennsylvania, just hours after a 2nd trooper was seriously injured after being shot by the gunman, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

It happened about 5:40 p.m. Friday near South Third and West Union streets in Allentown as city police and state troopers were conducting "high visibility proactive traffic enforcement," state police said. The motorist was taken to a hospital along with another motorist injured when struck by the offending vehicle.

Autopsy reveals cause and manner of death on Tuesday's incident in West Catasauqua Park.

Jose Batista-Gabin is the sixth person to face charges connected to 25-year-old Angel Martinez-Velez’s killing on June 1, 2024.

Allentown City Council again is pushing to clearly define how officials and workers evaluate and clear camps.

Police in the Lehigh Valley say the size of these gatherings presents a difficult operational challenge: how to respond without escalating already dangerous conditions involving fast-moving riders and large crowds.

Onanyeli Rosario-Mesa, 25, of Allentown, has been charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle and related offenses in connection with a wrong-way crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Tina Koren, 65, of Whitehall, who also is the township treasurer, was charged Monday with misdemeanor counts of official oppression and harassment, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan said.

the operator reported unknown engine problems and tried to fly to a local airport in the area, but landed on I-78 eastbound at mile marker 45.6.

A lawsuit filed this week alleges Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom and its parent company failed to protect a minor from a park employee who later pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her.

Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi, who faces more than 100 drug-related charges, was in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.

Marty Nothstein, a former Lehigh County commissioner, had been accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend but admitted to lesser charges Monday. The plea deal came three years after he pleaded guilty to illegally entering the home of a different ex-girlfriend.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced more than 100 additional criminal charges Wednesday against County Commissioner Zachary Cole-Borghi.

Lengthy criminal complaints contained more than 150 pages of transcripts of messages allegedly sent between Cole-Borghi and cooperating sources for the prosecution. Those messages show negotiations on the price of drugs, including marijuana/THC products and cocaine, as well as arranging for delivery and purchase.

A school district email said that at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, "during an administrative search of a student's belongings, school officials discovered a loaded firearm inside a student's school bag."