2009-11-08 00:20:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
State Rep. Mike Sturla's bill to require rural municipalities to pay more for state police protection is taking fire from all sides. House Bill 1500 remains bottled up in the House Appropriations Committee, but throughout Pennsylvania municipal officials have ripped the legislation, and ......
2009-11-08 00:15:00
STAFF
A man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt entered the Sunoco/A-Plus store, 520 Centerville Road, at about 2:08 a.m. Saturday and took an unknown amount of cash and cigarettes, East Hempfield Township police said. No weapons were seen, according to police. The thief was described as white,......
2009-11-07 00:13:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A wedding photographer has been charged with bilking customers of money and their photos.William James Wellman, 57, of 1372 Hammon Ave., Ephrata, was charged Friday by East Cocalico Township police with theft by deception and deceptive and fraudulent business practices.According to ......
2009-11-07 00:08:00
JANET KELLEY
The young Columbia man was told Friday that at some point he will be able to walk out of prison and get on with his life.But his son "will never be able to walk away from this situation," a Lancaster County judge said.In fact, the child — who Brandon Scott Brooks admitted assa......
2009-11-07 00:07:00
CINDY STAUFFER
City police on Wednesday arrested three people on retail theft charges in two separate incidents at Park City Center.A fourth person was cited for retail theft at a downtown retailer.According to police, Michael E. Rivera, 49, of 607 W. Orange St., tried to steal two queen-sized com......
2009-11-06 21:57:00
CINDY STAUFFER
He had child pornography images on his computer at his workplace in Clay Township, police said. He also had them on his computer at his home in Palmyra.As a result, Clay Township police this week charged Matthew A. Guillory, 36, with 40 counts of sexual abuse of children.Police rece......
2009-11-06 21:52:00
CINDY STAUFFER
A man who was critically injured after his vehicle hit a house has been charged with drunken driving.New Holland Police said Friday they charged Robert Innes, 41, of 708 Rancks Church Road, New Holland.Police said Innes' blood-alcohol content at the time of the accident was .27 perc......
2009-11-05 21:46:00
RYAN ROBINSON and JENNIFER TODD
Someone stole more than $3,000 worth of copper wire from a PPL substation, police said Thursday.Someone cut through a wire fence to gain entry and removed about 900 feet of copper wire stored at the substation in the 100 block of Stonehouse Lane, West Hempfield Township police said.......
2009-11-05 08:57:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
It could "result in total police regionalization … or it could just mean regional purchases" of police-related services, Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz said.And in East Hempfield Township, supervisors Chairman John Bingham said Wednesday, "I don't have a problem talking with anybody" about......
2009-11-05 00:04:00
JANET KELLEY
Wallace and Marian Case have eight grandchildren.So when the Penn Township retirees received a telephone call recently that one of their grandchildren was in trouble, they didn't hesitate to help.Only problem was, police said, it wasn't really their grandchild in trouble, an......
2009-11-05 00:03:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Lancaster city man told police that he was assaulted early Sunday in the 700 block of South Lime Street.The man, a 29-year-old resident of the 700 block of Rockland Street, said that he was walking home from a party shortly before 1:30 a.m. when six people wearing Halloween masks approac......
2009-11-05 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A call about two men fighting led to the arrests of a suspected armed robber and a suspected drug dealer, city police said.The incident occurred Wednesday at 2:45 a.m. near West Orange and North Mulberry streets, police said.Raymond Michael Nickles, 31, of 745 Manor St., Apt. 2, dis......
2009-11-04 09:48:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Lancaster Township — in the news in recent months for a major change in its police coverage — is about to hold a community meeting on another public safety issue: fire coverage.The meeting is planned for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, in Maple Grove Community Building, 1420 Columbi......
2009-11-04 00:57:00
STAFF REPORT
Police said Logan Potts, 68, of Akron, was killed in a two-vehicle crash at Route 272 (North Reading Road) and Martin Avenue in Ephrata Borough on Tuesday evening.Also involved in the 6:30 p.m. accident was Matthew Gold, 24, of Denver, police said.Gold was not injured, police said....
2009-11-04 00:07:00
AD CRABLE
A West Hempfield Township mother and her 2-year-old son were plucked from a rooftop before police arrested her husband in a domestic dispute Tuesday morning, according to authorities.West Hempfield Township police arrested Richard T. Bitner, 34, of 4005 Parkside Court, and charged him with......
2009-11-03 00:07:00
STAFF REPORT
Police said three people were injured Monday in a head-on crash in East Cocalico Township.Officer Gail Sizer said a sedan driven by Amanda Miller, 22, of Elverson, was traveling north in the 1200 block of North Reading Road when it collided with a southbound sport utility vehicle driven by......
2009-11-03 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Quarryville police are asking for the public's help to locate a stolen four-wheeler valued at more than $8,000.Police believe it might have been abandoned in a farm field or a forest, possibly in Providence Township."With crops coming down, leaves falling off trees and hunt......
2009-11-02 20:42:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Thieves working near the Route 30 strip stole more than $10,000 worth of merchandise during daylight hours Friday and Saturday, East Lampeter Township police said Monday.Four of the five victims said items were stolen from their vehicles.Linda Rivera, 29, of Lancaster, told police t......
2009-11-02 00:04:00
P.J. REILLY
Two people were injured early Sunday when their car crashed into a house in Caernarvon Township.Randall Gordy, 21, of Narvon, was listed in critical condition Sunday evening at Lancaster General Hospital.Sarah Malin, 20, of Ephrata, was in fair condition, according to a nursing supe......
2009-11-02 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY
For a Lancaster city teen, the second time wasn't a charm.Alexander Luis Machado, 18, of 429 Manor St., was arrested by city police late Saturday night and charged with stealing a Pontiac Grand Am — for the second time.According to police, several vehicles were stolen in the n......
2009-11-01 00:20:00
JON RUTTER
Some of the drivers Manor Township police Officer Colleen Tatara pulls over are staggering. The sheer volume of drunks on the road also is staggering. Tatara should know. She was one of 42 police officers who received a Top Gun award from the Pennsylvania DUI Association Oct. 22 in......
2009-10-31 00:11:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The last time Ephrata police dealt with Heather Angelica Kamp was when she was accused of passing herself off as a doctor and drawing blood from a 6-year-old girl she was baby-sitting in the northern Lancaster County town, they said.Police charged Kamp with simple assault and unauthorized ......
2009-10-31 00:09:00
JANET KELLEY
Three years ago today, a veteran city policeman walked into the basement of a St. Joseph Street home.What he saw, city police Detective Chris DePatto told a Lancaster County judge on Friday, "was something I've never seen before — and that says a lot."Seven peopl......
2009-10-31 00:07:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police officers were attacked during a riot in the city Thursday night that resulted in the arrests of four people, police said.City police were dispatched at 11:14 to the 300 block of South Queen Street for a report of a large fight and stabbing in progress, police said.Upon arriva......
2009-10-30 21:56:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
State police have identified the victim in a fatal two-vehicle crash in Paradise Township on Thursday night.Mary C. Zaccaria, 52, of Strasburg, was traveling eastbound on Route 741 near Black Horse Road when, for unknown reasons, her gold Oldsmobile Alero crossed the center line and struck......
2009-10-30 09:19:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police have charged two Harrisburg brothers with committing 10 thefts at the L.A. Fitness Sports Club in Manheim Township.Jarmen M. Nelson, 34, and Raki D. Nelson, 31, stole wallets and other property from the men's locker room at the 1300 Lititz Pike business, township police said. So......
2009-10-30 06:16:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Children who will soon be teenagers have never known a Lancaster city in which the mayor has not been either Rick Gray or Charlie Smithgall.The two mayors have controlled the county's only city for a dozen years. Both are asking for another term.For Gray, 64, a win Tuesday will ......
2009-10-30 00:06:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The man sought in the Oct. 14 wounding of two teenagers has been nabbed.Hector Rafael Llopiz Jr., 19, was captured by police Thursday morning at the Super 8 Motel on Lincoln Highway East.Entering a second-floor room, police encountered a 21-year-old Lancaster County woman, who initi......
2009-10-30 00:04:00
RYAN ROBINSON
The New Providence couple got a phone call from a stranger in the middle of the night." 'What kind of car do you drive?' " the man's voice blurted, according to the New Providence woman.Then came a comment about marriage being only for a "husband and a wif......
2009-10-30 00:03:00
JANET KELLEY
Jose Montanez cried as he confessed to the detective his part in a city shooting in August.Montanez, 24, of North Plum Street, said he'd gone to an East Orange Street apartment with his friend, who was upset with Anthony C. Swaydis.He told police he fired one gunshot at Swaydis,......
2009-10-30 00:02:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Ephrata police said they have caught five suspected thieves.Ricardo Valdespino Jr., 33, of Ephrata, and Jason R. Wanner, 32, of Bowmansville, were charged with committing thefts Oct. 16-18 at the Kmart store in Ephrata, police said.An Ephrata woman is being investigated in connectio......
2009-10-29 20:56:00
JENNIFER TODD
State police Thursday night were investigating a two-vehicle crash in Paradise Township that left one person dead and another injured.The accident, which involved a sedan and a pickup truck, occurred about 6 p.m. on Route 741 about three-quarters of a mile west of Black Horse Road.T......
2009-10-29 17:52:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police have arrested one of the two men they say robbed the Northwest Savings Bank at 922 Columbia Ave. Aug. 6.He is Wilson Albert Osorio Jr., 23, of the 200 block of East New Street, police said.Police tried to track down Osorio for several weeks and asked all law enforcement agenc......
2009-10-29 13:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Two days after a city man's home was burglarized and his car stolen, he found the car in a store parking lot — with a man sleeping inside it.The resident, of the first block of South Ann Street, told police that someone had stolen a television, a 14-karat gold ring and a spare set of......
2009-10-29 10:36:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police have charged a 13-year-old Manheim Township boy with two counts of aggravated assault, terroristic threats and criminal mischief, police said Thursday.The boy was arrested at Manheim Township Middle School following an incident at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, township police said.The b......
2009-10-29 00:07:00
TOM MURSE
The death of a 24-year-old East Hempfield Township man whose body was found on Route 283 after he apparently crashed his car 40 feet above on a Route 30 overpass has been ruled accidental.Zachary D. Lefever, of Greenridge Drive, died Saturday of multiple traumatic injuries sustained in his......
2009-10-29 00:06:00
JENNIFER TODD
Elizabethtown police have charged a 21-year-old man whom they allege set vehicles ablaze and caused other mayhem on two nights in 2006.Anthony Scott Meinhardt, a borough resident, is charged with two counts of arson and one count each of criminal mischief and theft from a vehicle.Po......
2009-10-29 00:04:00
JANET KELLEY
Convicted killer Orlando Baez has had enough of state prison, enough of the legal system.He wants to be put to death."Leave me alone, execute me and let me go in peace," Baez told a Lancaster County judge Wednesday.Baez was convicted and sentenced to death more than......
2009-10-29 00:03:00
JENNIFER TODD
A Lancaster man wanted for the alleged assault of his girlfriend Sunday has turned himself in to police.Shawn M. Jones, 20, of East Lemon Street, arrived at the Manheim Township police station about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to a news release.He was arraigned before District Ju......
2009-10-28 14:05:00
RYAN ROBINSON
An armed robber struck a city grocery store Tuesday night, police said.The robbery occurred at the Plum Street Grocery, 599½ N. Plum St., at 9:30 p.m., according to police.The robber displayed a gun, demanded cash from a store worker and then fled on foot with an undisclosed ......
2009-10-28 00:16:00
JANET KELLEY
A man arrested for a crime he did not commit was sentenced to county prison after he pleaded guilty to another robbery.Jose Antonio Santiago, 39, of Lancaster, was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in prison, plus three years consecutive probation, for robbery and conspiracy.Defe......
2009-10-28 00:07:00
JANET KELLEY
After George L. Clayton Jr. forged a customer's signature to steal money, the young bank manager knew he had done something terribly wrong.But he did it again to cover up the first theft, his lawyer said, and then again to cover up the second theft.The total amount of forged loa......
2009-10-28 00:06:00
RYAN ROBINSON
City police are investigating several weekend burglaries.More than $1,000 worth of compact discs and DVDs were stolen from a home in the 100 block of Nevin Street sometime between 4 and 11 p.m. on Saturday, police said.In addition to the 50 CDs and 20 DVDs, items reported taken incl......
2009-10-28 00:01:00
Staff
A young man pleaded guilty in Lancaster County Court on Tuesday to a series of crimes, including stealing cookies from an elderly Washington Boro woman.Randall James Hecker Jr., 20, of Calvert Lane, admitted to his part in a two-week crime spree that police said began with the robbery of a......
2009-10-27 21:47:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Manheim Township police are looking for a Lancaster man they say punched his girlfriend in the face several times, pointed a loaded handgun at her and threatened her life.Shawn M. Jones, 20, of East Lemon Street, has been charged with domestic assault for an incident police said occurred i......
2009-10-27 19:59:00
STAFF REPORT
Police in Columbia Borough are investigating an accident in which a child was struck by a vehicle Tuesday morning.The accident reportedly occurred at Lancaster Avenue (Route 462) and Eighth Street at about 7:30 a.m.Police did not identify the child and released no information about ......
2009-10-27 00:06:00
P.J. REILLY
State police and the U.S. Marshals Service had hoped Esteban Rodriguez-Reyes, 39, would show up in Lancaster County Court Monday for a hearing on gun charges.They planned to arrest the Lancaster city man and charge him with homicide by vehicle for allegedly driving drunk in Lehigh County i......
2009-10-27 00:03:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A West Hempfield Township police officer sustained minor injuries as he attempted to arrest a burglary suspect who then fled the scene in her vehicle, leading to a chase, police said.Officer Karl Hartranft was injured Monday as he tried to arrest Charlene P. Yurgaitis, 28, of Mountville, w......
2009-10-27 00:02:00
JANET KELLEY
It wasn't unusual for his older brother to call him names or initiate a fight, the city man told police.So when Osvaldo Torres started yelling, punching and trying to cut him with a knife Aug. 23, Enrique Torres-Torres said, he wasn't surprised, but fought back."He was always trying......
2009-10-27 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
One day after four daytime residential burglaries in Manheim Township, four more homes were struck in the Landisville and Salunga areas.The latest break-ins occurred Friday.More than $6,600 worth of jewelry was stolen from two homes in the 100 block of Ann Avenue and a home in the 3......
2009-10-26 13:01:00
STAFF REPORT
A day after a caller alerted them to a possible abduction of a boy in Clay Township, police today said they have not gotten any report of a missing child. State police at Ephrata said they are hoping it is just a case of a relative giving the child a ride. A caller had told county emergenc......
2009-10-26 00:06:00
JANET KELLEY
State police were investigating a report of a possible abduction of a 13-year-old boy Sunday afternoon in Clay Township.A caller told county emergency dispatchers he saw the child, along with the scooter he was riding, being placed in a van around 4:30 p.m., police said.Troopers sai......
2009-10-26 00:01:00
STAFF
The man found dead beneath the Route 30 overpass over Route 283 on Saturday has been identified by officials as Zachary Lefever.Lefever, 24, was found dead by rescue workers responding to a reported one-vehicle crash on the highway at 2:35 a.m.The vehicle was empty, but police spott......
2009-10-24 00:04:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police have arrested a 31-year-old who they say stabbed a city man with a kitchen knife Thursday morning.Emanuel Junior Rodriguez, of 749 Poplar St., stabbed Steven Taylor, 42, of 457 Atlantic Ave., inside Taylor's home, police said.The 12:17 a.m. stabbing occurred while they we......
2009-10-24 00:03:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Two people were injured in a New Holland crash involving a school bus full of elementary children Friday morning, officials said.Frances Atkins, 87, of New Holland, was transported to Lancaster General Hospital, New Holland Borough police said. The severity of her injuries was not known....
2009-10-24 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
State police have charged two men with a slew of burglaries and thefts at southern Lancaster County businesses and homes, police reported Friday.William Christopher Thomas, 28, who has a last-known address of Port Deposit, Md., faces charges of burglary, theft and conspiracy related to six......
2009-10-23 21:13:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A 23-year-old man was caught with a loaded sawed-off shotgun in the city Thursday night, police said.During a trespass investigation, police tried to stop Miguel Angel Quinones Jr., of 851 S. Lime St., who was walking in the first block of West Filbert Street, police said.He fled an......
2009-10-23 09:11:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Manheim Township police are investigating four daytime burglaries that occurred Thursday.Two residences on Crooked Oak Drive, in the 1800 and 1900 blocks, and two in the 300 block of Greenview Drive were entered by forcing open doors while the residents were not home, police said.Je......
2009-10-23 07:46:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A boat and a trailer were not stolen overnight Wednesday from outside an Earl Township business after all.The owner told New Holland Borough police on Thursday that a family member had taken the boat to have it waxed and cleaned as a surprise for him, police said.The boat and traile......
2009-10-23 00:03:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police are investigating several cases of vehicles being broken into in Manheim Township overnight Tuesday.Township police said they do not know if any of them are related.Megan Brunner of Lancaster said someone stole a $145 GPS unit from her vehicle in a driveway in the 2800 block ......
2009-10-22 19:37:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A boat and a trailer were stolen from the outside of an Earl Township business overnight Wednesday, police said.The boat and trailer together are valued at $13,000, New Holland Borough police said.They were taken between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday at Dutch Country Soft Pre......
2009-10-22 14:30:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A man was stabbed in Lancaster city Thursday morning, and police are seeking a suspect, they said.The stabbing occurred at 12:17 a.m. on Atlantic Avenue , police said.The victim, whose name police did not release, suffered a stab wound to his left torso, police said. He was ta......
2009-10-22 00:07:00
JENNIFER TODD
They went from thinking pink to seeing green.Lots of it.Two weeks ago, members of the Conestoga Valley High School girls' volleyball team, who had been working to raise money for cancer, discovered that the $170 they collected so far was missing."They were very disap......
2009-10-22 00:04:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Elizabeth Bugner thought of the dream-come-true day when she got her engagement ring — after a stranger stole it from her.Her boyfriend, Leonard Greene, drove to Lancaster from his home in the Boston area to shock her with a marriage proposal three years ago."He went to P......
2009-10-22 00:02:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Lancaster city man assaulted three police officers after they responded to his home for a domestic disturbance call, police said.The man, 28-year-old Jabriel C. Lane, and his girlfriend had a domestic dispute, and officers went to his home at 42 W. Liberty St. at 1:43 a.m. Wednesday.......
2009-10-21 00:11:00
JANET KELLEY
It was an unusual reaction to a state prison sentence, the Lancaster County judge admitted Tuesday.After being sentenced to 5½ to 15 years in prison for robbery, the young city man asked his lawyer to give the judge a message:"Thank you."Edward William Kempto......
2009-10-21 00:04:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A tractor-trailer slammed into a line of cars on Route 222 at Route 322 on Tuesday night, mangling vehicles and closing the road, police and witnesses said.At least two people were injured, according to West Earl Township police.The crash took place at 6:18 p.m. on southbound Route ......
2009-10-21 00:03:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Salunga woman involved in a July 26 crash in Lebanon County that claimed the lives of an elderly couple will not face any charges, police said Tuesday.Christa Chappel, 33, was driving a sport utility vehicle that collided with the couple's car at Mount Wilson and Mount Gretna roads, ......
2009-10-21 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A 73-year-old Elizabethtown woman suffered multiple injuries when a car struck her as she walked along the road Monday afternoon, police said.The pedestrian, Ellen Sundy of 415 W. Ridge Road, and the driver, Carissa Stoner, 18, of West Donegal Township, were transported by ambulance to Her......
2009-10-20 20:27:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Lancaster city police are searching for a 19-year-old man wanted in connection with the shooting last week of two teenagers in the 400 block of South Duke Street.Police have filed two counts of aggravated assault against Hector Rafael Llopiz Jr., address unknown, with District Judge Kelly ......
2009-10-20 17:53:00
STEPHEN J. ENGLE
The Pennsylvania State Police are strongly encouraging residents in Brecknock Township to lock their vehicles, after a rash of at least 24 illegal entries into unlocked cars and trucks.The incidents occurred in the late evening and overnight hours on Oct. 12 and 13 in the Bowmansville area......
2009-10-20 10:17:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Lancaster County man is accused of stabbing his brother — twice — during a dispute over $5, police said.Daimar Wesley II, 25, of 230 Stonemill Road, stabbed Donald Wesley, 28, of the 100 block of South Marshall Street, in the upper chest and lower abdomen, police said.......
2009-10-20 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster city police Chief Keith Sadler said Monday that he is confident his department will make an arrest in last week's shooting of two young men on the 400 block of South Duke Street."There's a perception out there that we get no cooperation in cases like this, and that&#......
2009-10-19 23:16:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Lancaster man initially charged with endangering the welfare of his 1-year-old son also has been charged with receiving stolen property, in addition to facing several gun and drug charges, police said.Anselmo J. Rivera, 25, of West Orange Street, argued with his girlfriend at a home in t......
2009-10-19 21:09:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
An Ephrata man was killed in a one-car wreck in Brecknock Township Sunday night, state police said.David S. Jones, 28, died when his westbound 1995 Honda sedan crossed the center line in the 500 block of Fivepointville Road at 6:54 p.m. The car crossed the eastbound lane and left the road.......
2009-10-19 10:24:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Manheim Township police on Sunday arrested a Lancaster city man who allegedly pointed a handgun at a man and threatened to kill him.Jorge W. Rosado Jr., 20, of West Lemon Street, went to a residence in the first block of West Liberty Street in Manheim Township to talk with his girlfriend, ......
2009-10-19 00:03:00
TOM MURSE
This time it was Charlie Smithgall who went on the offensive.The Republican mayoral hopeful portrayed the loss of the city's police contract with Lancaster Township as a major blunder, accusing Democratic Mayor Rick Gray of severing the agreement in July in a failed attempt to pressure......
2009-10-19 00:01:00
P.J. REILLY
Two dogs were killed in a shed fire in East Cocalico Township on Sunday morning.An East Cocalico police officer driving past 73 S. Line Road around 10:20 a.m. spotted heavy smoke pouring out of the shed, which was detached from the house on the property, a police spokesman said.It w......
2009-10-18 00:13:00
CINDY HUMMEL
An urban legend, according to one dictionary, "is a modern story of obscure origin and with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously in varying forms." In the Lampeter-Strasburg area last week, two stories melded together and grew in the re-telling, creating "w......
2009-10-17 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A hit-and-run driver with 10 convictions for driving while under suspension struck a pedestrian and three vehicles in the city Thursday night, police said.Luis Antonio Cruz, 54, of 511 S. Shippen St., was driving in the first block of Dauphin Street when he struck a pedestrian, Ciriaco Rey......
2009-10-16 22:16:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Firefighters extricated a Leola woman after her car collided with a Red Rose Transit Authority bus at East Orange and North Plum streets on Friday, police said.Amanda Mowery, 24, was transported to Lancaster General Hospital for treatment, police said.She was in fair condition Frida......
2009-10-16 08:53:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Tom retired from the city police department Thursday after getting a final pat on the head from his fellow officers.In his new life, the 13-year-old quarterhorse won't just be lolling around the pasture.Tom will be acting as an ambassador and teacher for Mt. Hope Horse Rescue, h......
2009-10-16 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police are investigating two more suspected arsons in the southwestern part of the city.Two pickup trucks in a garage parking lot were damaged by a fire in the 700 block of West Vine Street Tuesday at about 11:26 p.m., city police Lt. Todd Umstead said.A Ford pickup's engine and......
2009-10-15 22:17:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A sport utility vehicle crashed into a telephone pole with a transformer on it in West Lampeter Township on Thursday.The 10:52 a.m. crash occurred near 1250 Eshelman Mill Road.Two people were stuck inside the Ford Explorer because electric wires were strewn across it for about an ho......
2009-10-15 21:22:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Lancaster man on Wednesday locked a 1-year-old child inside an East Petersburg home alone, with no way for the mother to get back into the home, police said.Anselmo J. Rivera, 25, of Orange Street, was arrested after the domestic incident in the 2700 block of Madison Court, Manheim Towns......
2009-10-15 00:07:00
JENNIFER TODD
Lancaster city police said a dispute between two groups led to the shootings Wednesday of two city men in the 400 block of South Duke Street.The 18-year-old males, whose names weren't released by police Wednesday, were driven in a private vehicle to an area hospital for treatment of wh......
2009-10-15 00:06:00
JENNIFER TODD
A home of a Ronks couple was burglarized Oct. 6 while a man posing as a landscaper lured them away from the residence, East Lampeter Township police said.Police said a 75-year-old man was standing in his yard in the 100 block of Eastbrook Road at about 6 p.m. when a vehicle pulled into his......
2009-10-15 00:04:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Vandals have struck the Lancaster Rec Judo Club — again — but this time their destruction is inside the club's building.The club practices four times a week in the red barn just off Pitney Road in the city's Conestoga Pines Park.Vandals, likely overnight Fri......
2009-10-14 22:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Multiple gun shots were fired as a would-be robber struggled with an employee at the Belvedere Inn in the city Tuesday night, police said.The shots-fired call was dispatched at 11:53 p.m. at the 402 N. Queen St. restaurant, police said.The suspect entered the carryout section at the......
2009-10-14 17:19:00
STAFF REPORT
Lancaster city police are on the scene of a reported double shooting that occurred shortly after 3 p.m. in the 400 block of South Duke Street.Two men were reportedly injured and taken to Lancaster General Hospital. Their conditions are currently unknown.South Duke Street is closed t......
2009-10-14 10:09:00
TOM MURSE
Maribeth Madonna got the phone call from the Capital One credit card company just before Christmas in 2005. It wanted to verify that she had, in fact, applied for a new account."I was startled," Madonna recalled in an interview.Madonna had not applied for a new credit card......
2009-10-14 09:26:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Efforts to merge the three fire companies in Columbia Borough and regionalize the borough's fire crews and police department with rescue and law enforcement organizations in neighboring municipalities got a boost at Monday's council meeting.Before the end of the month, council agre......
2009-10-14 06:29:00
CAROLE DECK
Gone are the days when New Holland police ignored drivers who parked illegally in the opposite direction of traffic flow.Police issued more than 100 parking tickets in New Holland and Earl Township over Labor Day weekend, and that brought residents to the Oct. 6 council meeting to question......
2009-10-14 00:01:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Pennsylvania state police are investigating a series of car break-ins in northern Lancaster County.Troopers from the Ephrata barracks are trying to discover who broke into at least seven vehicles in Brecknock Township Monday night or early Tuesday."They just rummaged through ev......
2009-10-13 22:18:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A robber brandished a handgun at a city gas station Monday night, police said.Two men entered the Sunoco station at 777 New Holland Ave. at about 9 p.m., police said.One displayed a black, semi-automatic handgun and demanded that one of the two employees in the store open the cash r......
2009-10-13 12:48:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A missing 16-year-old Holtwood girl was found Monday in York city after she apparently had run away from home, according to her mother.Milady Yamilett Colon, a sophomore at Penn Manor High School, was reported missing to state police on Oct. 6 when she did not show up at school, her mother......
2009-10-13 11:14:00
RYAN ROBINSON
City police are trying to determine the identity of a teenager who robbed four 12-year-old boys in Lancaster Township Sunday night, according to police.The young boys played at Hamilton Elementary School and then were walking through the Hershey Heritage Apartments area along Misty Drive a......
2009-10-13 08:19:00
STAFF
City police are investigating a burglary of an apartment on North Charlotte Street.The burglary occurred sometime between 6:30 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. Monday in the 400 block of North Charlotte Street, police said.Someone took about $5,000 cash from an apartment.Entry may have......
2009-10-13 00:16:00
JENNIFER TODD
A Gordonville man has been charged with attacking his girlfriend with a baseball bat as she slept Saturday morning in their home.State police said Calvin B. Lynch, 31, of 205B Maple St., also kept the woman confined to a bedroom for more than eight hours by threatening further abuse if she......
2009-10-13 00:14:00
CINDY HUMMEL
Strasburg Borough police said Monday that a meter reader going about his job unknowingly created a panic among parents in the Lampeter-Strasburg area.Two young boys playing in their yard last Tuesday afternoon reported that they were approached by a man they did not know, who was believed ......
2009-10-13 00:03:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Three times when Charlie Smithgall was mayor, Lancaster City cut proposed funding to install an elevator in City Hall.The elevator would have made the second floor of the municipal building accessible to people in wheelchairs and compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act....
2009-10-13 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster Township supervisors unanimously voted Monday night to buy the township's police services from Manheim Township beginning Jan. 1.Lancaster city police have covered the township for the past 38 years.In voting to approve the contract with Manheim Township, the superviso......
2009-10-13 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A pizza deliveryman was robbed near a drinking establishment in the city on Friday night, police reported.He delivered a pizza to a customer at Kelsey's Pub, 14 N. Broad St., at about 8:20 p.m., police said.Two men followed the 27-year-old city deliveryman as he left the bar, po......
2009-10-12 17:19:00
STAFF
Correction — A state police trooper who was struck by a piece of gum allegedly thrown or spit by a 16-year-old girl off the Landis Valley Road bridge over Route 222 was not driving his car at the time, according to police. He was parked alon......
2009-10-12 13:23:00
RYAN ROBINSON
When a woman asked him to walk her home from outside a bar at 2 a.m., he may have thought it was his lucky day.Instead, he got robbed.A 26-year-old city man had just left Cosmos Bar & Grill, 464 Manor St., on Sunday when a woman in her 40s approached and asked him to walk her ho......
2009-10-12 09:57:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Fire officials and police are investigating another fire in the Cabbage Hill area of the city, this time at an elementary school.Newspapers on the front cement porch of Lafayette Elementary School were on fire at about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Lt. Alex Grumbrecht, a city fire marshal, said Mon......
2009-10-12 09:03:00
STAFF
City police say they arrested a suspected drug dealer Sunday night.Police offered this account of the arrest:About midnight, officers began following a car near West Farnum and South Queen streets.Police saw a passenger, Jonathan Ocasio-Figueroa, of 45 S. Franklin St. #2, hol......
2009-10-12 00:03:00
TOM MURSE and CINDY HUMMEL
Police in Strasburg have stepped up patrols at bus stops, and school officials are warning parents to be vigilant after two boys playing in their yard reported being approached by a teenager they didn't know last week.The Tuesday afternoon incident has since sparked a flurry of e-mails......
2009-10-12 00:00:00
TOM MURSE
You could say Jonathan A. Reveron was caught red-handed, but that might be an understatement.Police dispatched to a West Lampeter Township apartment complex found the 18-year-old Willow Street-area man hiding in someone else's car — with hundreds of dollars of someone else's expensiv......
2009-10-11 00:17:00
STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
Autopsy results on Meleanie Hain, the Lebanon County soccer-mom-turned-gun-advocate, revealed that she died last Wednesday night as a result of trauma from several gunshot wounds. Her husband, Scott Hain, went to an upstairs bedroom and used a shotgun to commit suicide after shooting his wife, ......
2009-10-10 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police are investigating two burglaries that occurred Wednesday:• A burglar took $3,270 worth of items from a home in the 600 block of East King Street sometime between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., police said. A Wii game, three televisions, two PlayStation game consoles,......
2009-10-09 21:29:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Two men robbed a 49-year-old city man at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon in the first block of West Filbert Street, city police said.One robber had a black semi-automatic handgun, police said.The robbers directed the man to an apartment in the 400 block of Manor Street and struck him i......
2009-10-09 19:54:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer
A soccer mom who was thrust into the national gun-rights debate after taking a loaded pistol to youth sports events was killed by her husband in a shooting witnessed online by her video chat partner, authorities said Friday.Scott Hain used his own gun to fire several shots into his 30-year......
2009-10-09 10:37:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police arrested a 19-year-old city man this week after finding he was carrying a stolen semiautomatic handgun.Two detectives driving in the area saw Jarvis J. Jamison, of the 200 block of East Frederick Street, running through St. Mary's Cemetery at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, city polic......
2009-10-09 08:49:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A fire policeman from Elizabethtown was injured when a hit-and-run motorist's car dragged him 20 to 30 feet Thursday night.Robert Dougherty, 46, was directing traffic at 10:30 p.m. along Route 230 at Toll House Road in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, because of an earlier crash, ......
2009-10-09 07:06:00
JANET KELLEY
Most of the time, child predators are caught by cops posing as kids on the Internet.But this time, authorities said, the intended targets — two Lancaster County girls — were real.Luckily, investigators said both girls were smart enough to tell their mothers about the onl......
2009-10-09 00:14:00
STAFF REPORT
City police say a Lancaster Township woman escaped uninjured Thursday when her vehicle went over a curb and crashed into the front of Country Garden Laundromat, 876 Manor St., at 6:30 p.m.Police said Mary Ann Harvin, 52, told them she accidentally hit the vehicle's accelerator when try......
2009-10-09 00:03:00
RYAN ROBINSON and JENNIFER TODD
Another car may have been torched.Firefighters put out a vehicle fire at 2:30 a.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of Maple Avenue in Lancaster Township, city police said."It is not labeled arson yet," Lt. Todd Umstead said Thursday. "It is suspicious. Police are investiga......
2009-10-09 00:01:00
STAFF
City police are investigating five cases of fraud in the past week.Victims lost a total of $3,485, police said.City police Lt. Todd Umstead said it didn't appear the cases were related."It sounds like people were careless with their cards and somebody is taking advan......
2009-10-08 22:33:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer
A suburban mother who became a voice of the gun-rights movement when she openly carried a loaded pistol to her daughter's soccer game was fatally shot Wednesday along with her parole-officer husband in an apparent murder-suicide at their home in Pennsylvania Dutch country, authorities said....
2009-10-08 06:31:00
JANET KELLEY
A retired Manheim Township minister will stand trial on charges he had inappropriate contact with teenage boys.Dennis Spangler, 64, of Richland Drive, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on two sets of charges Wednesday, according to District Judge David Miller's office.Th......
2009-10-08 00:13:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The last day that her family and friends saw her, Lilly Colon-Torres went to Walmart with her mom and one of her sisters. She later chatted with her neighbors in the 300 block of Beaver Street.The 33-year-old sat on her stoop with two men she had been letting stay with her. The oldest of h......
2009-10-08 00:02:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Several recent robberies and burglaries have been keeping police busy in the county:• An unknown male got away with cash in an 8 a.m. robbery Monday at Puff-N-Snuff, 941 E. Main St., Mount Joy, state police said.The suspect knocked on a rear door to get the att......
2009-10-08 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
They're talking about merging police services in York County.York city and eight municipalities in its orbit have committed to studying the effect a single metropolitan police force would have on public safety and costs.In Berks County, home to 38 police departments, they're......
2009-10-08 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON and JENNIFER TODD
Someone slid a burned Bible into the front-door mail slot of a New Holland church Tuesday, police said.Police responded at 5 p.m. to First Baptist Church of New Holland, 149 W. Conestoga St., for a report of vandalism.The fluorescent-orange 3-inch-by-5-inch Bible was discovered by a......
2009-10-07 11:33:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police are looking for a robber who told a Lancaster city man he had a gun and then stole a bag of chips from him Tuesday night.The robbery occurred in the 300 block of West Lemon Street at 10:30 p.m., city police said."He made statements that he had a gun, and a scuffle ensued," Lt......
2009-10-07 07:24:00
JANET KELLEY
An 18-year-old Ephrata man, charged with leaving a shotgun within reach of his little brother, will stand trial on a charge of reckless endangerment.Randall N. Hoover's 6-year-old brother used the gun to shoot and kill another child. Hoover waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tue......
2009-10-07 07:08:00
JENNIFER TODD
Police have charged a Virginia woman in connection with a July 22 traffic accident which resulted in the death of another driver.West Earl Township police said Barbara B. Carper, 57, of Milford, is charged with a felony count of accidents involving death or personal injury while not proper......
2009-10-07 06:47:00
DEAN LEE EVANS
Mountville Borough's 35-year relationship with Manor Township could be in jeopardy after officials learned of a major cost increase for police services next year.Councilwoman Susan Watson said at a Sept. 28 workshop meeting that the cost of the new five-year police contract, which is u......
2009-10-07 00:03:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The 15-year-old boy said the retired minister tried to kiss him on the lips, touched his thigh and told him he was a "touchy-feely" type of guy and a bisexual, according to police.Those are the allegations made in the latest round of charges against Dennis Spangler, 64, of Manhei......
2009-10-07 00:01:00
JENNIFER TODD
Lancaster Barnstormers general manager Vince Bulik has been charged with driving under the influence in York County.State police in York said Bulik had a blood-alcohol level of .13 percent when he allegedly ignored police and failed to stop for a sobriety checkpoint July 19.He is ch......
2009-10-06 11:59:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Police allege a Lancaster city man jumped in a water fountain outside Park City Center and tried to scoop change from the fountain.City police said Jeremy C. Heymann, 23, of 341 S. Ann St., was in the fountain near the strip of Fountain Shoppes at the mall when police arrived Sunday....
2009-10-06 09:36:00
JANET KELLEY
The Penn Square branch of Fulton Bank was robbed shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday, police said.Police said no weapon was displayed during the robbery.Shortly after the 9:15 a.m. holdup, city police broadcast a description of the suspect. He was described as a Hispanic man, 5 feet 5 inch......
2009-10-06 07:56:00
BERNARD HARRIS
High Point, N.C., police had tried all the traditional approaches to fighting crime.They would do widespread arrests in areas with open-air drug markets. They tried to crack down on prostitution and burglaries related to drugs.In most cases, drug dealers returned to the streets quic......
2009-10-06 06:44:00
JANET KELLEY
A Willow Street man who volunteered as treasurer for a church group and his child's soccer team pleaded guilty Friday to stealing more than $300,000 from the organizations.Terry Feeser, who also pleaded guilty to identity theft and writing bad checks, will be sentenced later by Lancast......
2009-10-06 00:02:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A man was hospitalized Monday after his bicycle collided with a car, police said.According to Ephrata Borough police, a car driven by Joanne O. Hoffert, 71, of Ephrata, was turning left from Route 272 onto North 11th Street when it collided with the bicycle.The bicyclist, Brad Bewle......
2009-10-06 00:01:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The body pulled from the Susquehanna River Thursday has been identified as a Lancaster city woman who has been missing for almost two weeks.Police said the body of Lydia Colon-Torres, 33, was found near the river bank, not far from the intersection of Route 441 and Donegal Street, in Manor......
2009-10-05 11:28:00
STAFF
An Elizabethtown-area woman stole $16,000 worth of jewelry from her sister, police said Monday.Lindsay Annette Lancaster, 27, of 308 Faith Ave., stole the jewelry between Sept. 11 and 12 from her sister in the 500 block of Greider Road, Mount Joy, according to Susquehanna Regional police....
2009-10-05 08:49:00
RYAN ROBINSON
An Akron man was driving drunk while two young children in his car were improperly restrained, police said Monday.Matthew Amsbaugh, 27, of Akron, was stopped for an alleged traffic violation in the 3000 block of Oregon Pike at 1:13 a.m. Sept. 5, Manheim Township police said.Two chil......
2009-10-05 08:28:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A man robbed a McDonald's manager at gunpoint early Sunday, East Hempfield Township police said.The robber waited outside the McDonald's at 1755 Columbia Ave., police said. He displayed a small black handgun as the manager left the restaurant carrying the night deposit bag at 6:24 ......
2009-10-04 00:19:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Charlie Smithgall rolls through town in his big black Chevrolet Suburban, pointing out the things he said have gone wrong since Rick Gray replaced him as mayor of Lancaster. "I don't mean to be critical," he said. "But I'm gonna be critical." "Ever been ......
2009-10-03 00:06:00
JANET KELLEY
Ricky Miller Jr. told police he didn't want to shoot his wife's boyfriend in front of his children."But he had to," police said Miller told them, before the other man, Kenneth Geiger III, "could get him."Geiger, 26, of Hampton Township, Cumberland County,......
2009-10-03 00:03:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A collision of a car and a personal mobility scooter left an Ephrata man hospitalized Friday.David Bair, 72, of Ephrata, was driving his personal mobility scooter southbound along North Church Street around 11:30 a.m. when the accident occurred."He was coming from Redner's ......
2009-10-03 00:02:00
STAFF REPORT
Lancaster police are continuing to investigate the case of a missing city woman, according to a news release Friday.Lydia Colon-Torres, 33, was last seen by family members on Sept. 25 at her 324 Beaver St. residence.City police also are working with Manor Township police, the Lancas......
2009-10-03 00:01:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Add child pornography to the charges that a former Lititz mayoral candidate, town Santa Claus and church youth group leader is facing.Greg Nies, 53, was charged in May with having sexual contact with a teen-age girl.This week, in a second round of charges, the Lititz man was charged......
2009-10-02 11:19:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Washington Boro man masturbated in his car while looking at women outside Park City Center, police said Thursday.Daniel J. Hickernell Jr., 22, of 62 Penn St., faces two charges of open lewdness, city police said.A woman and a man saw Hickernell naked in his vehicle and masturbatin......
2009-10-02 00:04:00
JENNIFER TODD
An autopsy will be conducted today on a body pulled from the Susquehanna River Thursday in Washington Boro, Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said Thursday night.Diamantoni said he could release no other details about the body, including whether it is male or female, because ......
2009-10-02 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
An arsonist appears to be targeting cars parked in the Cabbage Hill area of Lancaster city.Several car fires have struck the area in the last few months, including three in the same block in the last two weeks, officials said."They are suspicious, and fire marshals are investig......
2009-10-01 10:32:00
STAFF
Police are asking for help in locating a missing city woman. Lydia Colon-Torres, 33, was last seen by family members Friday night at her 324 Beaver St. residence, police said. She is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds, police said. She has dark brown hair with blonde highlights....
2009-10-01 10:24:00
TOM KNAPP
Some local municipalities may terminate contracts with the Humane League of Lancaster County next year, citing the rising cost of doing business with the shelter.But a shelter official this week fired back, saying the nonprofit agency is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy."We ......
2009-10-01 06:19:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The next time you lace up your ratty sneakers, consider this.City police are investigating a burglary Monday during which 121 pairs of sneakers, valued at a whopping $15,125, were stolen from a city home.The sneakers, worth about $125 each, were taken along with a computer, speakers......
2009-10-01 06:11:00
CINDY STAUFFER
A Marietta man has been charged with raping a 6-year-old child.Wayne G. Beamsderfer Jr., 27, of 3 Kline Road, Marietta, was charged Sunday with rape of a child, criminal attempt at involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, indecent exposure and simple assault.Sus......
2009-10-01 00:03:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Jessica Lopez allegedly used her car as a weapon — twice — and then attacked three police officers who arrested her after the second incident.The 21-year-old city woman was in and out of prison over the past year, as she made bail and had it revoked.Early Monday morning,......
2009-10-01 00:02:00
JANET KELLEY
A Columbia man, who allegedly hit a thief with a baseball bat after he caught him stealing from his van, will take his case to Lancaster County Court.Joshua Heisey was charged with aggravated assault, a felony, after police said he hit Matthew Nolan in the face with a baseball bat.H......
2009-09-30 15:13:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Are you missing a safe?One that's about 2 feet wide and 18 inches tall? On wheels? Black, with red trim and adorned with gold letters? With a silver combination dial? From the Victor Safe & Lock Co.?City police have it.And, so sorry — it's empty.The s......
2009-09-30 08:14:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Manheim Township commissioners on Tuesday approved a contract to provide police services to Lancaster Township."This does not go into effect until Lancaster Township's supervisors also approve it," Commissioner J. Michael Flanagan said of the agreement, which the board voted ......
2009-09-30 00:04:00
JENNIFER TODD and RYAN ROBINSON
Police have charged an East Hempfield Township man with assaulting and robbing his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend Friday outside the victim's East Lampeter Township home.Richard E. Davenport Jr., 21, of 1820 Glenbrook Drive, was one of several individuals who allegedly attacked Derreck ......
2009-09-30 00:03:00
STAFF REPORT
A Columbia man was placed on three years probation Tuesday for having child pornography on his home computer.Devin Garman, 26, had pleaded guilty in June and was sentenced Tuesday morning by Lancaster County Court Judge Howard F. Knisely.A friend observed the pornography on Garman&#......
2009-09-30 00:02:00
STAFF REPORT
Police charged a 15-year-old Denver boy Tuesday morning after he allegedly made threats to a teacher at Garden Spot High School.New Holland Police said the teen made statements regarding actions he would take at the school.Upon learning of the incident, school administrators contact......
2009-09-30 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police have charged a registered Megan's Law sex offender with stalking a Lancaster Township woman, police said Tuesday.Mozella Drakeford, 60, of 682 Union St., faces one count of stalking, city police said.In July, a Lancaster Township woman reported she was being stalked by an......
2009-09-29 06:16:00
JANET KELLEY
A young city man who last year held up a convenience store at gunpoint with his friends was sentenced Monday to 4 to 8 years in state prison.Melvin Keith, 20, of Lancaster, pleaded guilty in July to robbery, conspiracy, burglary and theft.On Monday, Lancaster County Court President ......
2009-09-29 00:02:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Lancaster woman stole checks from an elderly woman in her care and then used them to steal $16,000 from her, Manheim Township Police said Friday.Vilma M. Cabibihan-Sinski, of Philmont Drive, faces three charges of forgery and three charges of theft, police said.In July, an elderly......
2009-09-29 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON and LARRY ALEXANDER
Someone cut into a safe at the Olive Garden restaurant near Park City Center late Saturday night or early Sunday and made off with cash, police said.The burglar or burglars disabled the alarm system at the 910 Plaza Boulevard restaurant, police said."It was definitely more sophistic......
2009-09-28 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY
East Hempfield Township police on Saturday arrested a man wanted for robbery in New York.Evan R. Greenberg, 20, of Mamaroneck, N.Y., was arrested at 11 p.m. Saturday at the Sheetz store, 3101 Columbia Ave.According to a news release, East Hempfield police Sgt. Dennis Eberly checked ......
2009-09-28 00:00:00
STAFF
Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St....
2009-09-27 00:20:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
The divorce got uglier last week. Jilted Lancaster city officials declared taxpayers were better off without its old flame, Lancaster Township, and the costly contract to put city police on township streets. Meanwhile, Lancaster Township officials turned their attention to their new sui......
2009-09-26 00:14:00
TOM KNAPP
Two alleged thieves learned the hard way Thursday that running through a swamp isn't the best plan for a clean getaway. Details were still sketchy Friday about the duo, who panicked after trying to make an escape through mosquito-infested wetlands. Lancaster city police had little infor......
2009-09-25 00:19:00
JENNIFER TODD
A man plummeted from a second-story window Wednesday during a scuffle with officers investigating a domestic disturbance at his home, West Hempfield Township police said. Police were attempting to interview Matthew S. Wander, 32, about the domestic dispute when he charged at them, Sgt. Russe......
2009-09-25 00:17:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Earlier this month, two women at an early morning party in downtown Lancaster got into a fight. The fight spilled out onto North Queen Street, and soon a crowd gathered. By the time city police arrived, there were more than 100 people in the street and several gunshots had been fired. C......
2009-09-23 08:04:00
CINDY STAUFFER
State police are investigating the death of a Christiana man who collapsed at a party early Saturday in Salisbury Township.Steve Gilmore, 23, was pronounced dead at Brandywine Hospital. He had been taken to the hospital by ambulance from the party on Old Strasburg Road after he collapsed b......
2009-09-23 00:08:00
JANET KELLEY
For several hours Monday night, dozens of firefighters, police officers and frantic family members searched for a missing toddler.Two-year-old Mervin Lapp had wandered out of his West Lampeter Township home and into a nearby cornfield.When he became confused and couldn't find hi......
2009-09-23 00:06:00
BERNARD HARRIS
There was a lot more to the policing contract with Lancaster Township than just officer patrols, Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said Tuesday night.In his report to City Council, Gray cited services provided by the city treasury office, such as sending notices for unpaid township parking tickets......
2009-09-23 00:05:00
TOM KNAPP
Investigating a potential crime becomes easier when suspects post evidence of their activities on the Internet.Four Lancaster County teenagers are accused of breaking into a New Holland home, holding a party there and stealing jewelry and other household items.Someone then posted pi......
2009-09-23 00:04:00
RYAN ROBINSON
City police nabbed a teenager they say used a fake pistol in a robbery in the 200 block of Harrisburg Avenue, near North Prince Street, Monday night.It is one of several robberies police are investigating in recent days.Police got a call that a 23-year-old man had been robbed of a s......
2009-09-22 08:50:00
BERNARD HARRIS
It happened again last week.Ron Moser looked out of his Beaver Street home and saw a young man with a handgun in his hand. Moser called police."Yea, it's always about drugs," said Moser, a neighborhood watch block captain.City Mayor Rick Gray on Monday chose Mos......
2009-09-22 00:04:00
P.J. REILLY
This was a professional job.Northwest Regional Police Chief Sam Gatchell has no doubt "sophisticated" criminals were behind an early-morning burglary Sunday at Darrenkamp's Elizabethtown Market."This was not a bunch of kids or a drug addict looking for his next quick fix," Gatchell ......
2009-09-22 00:03:00
JANET KELLEY
The boys were "just playing," police said, when they came across the shotgun and shells lying on a desk in the family recreation room.They had been told never to handle the guns.But the oldest of the group, a 6-year-old, knew how to load the shotgun, which he did. He then raised it ......
2009-09-22 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster city police on Monday identified the man killed Saturday afternoon in a shooting in a house on Beaver Street as Carlos Javier Perez Gonzalez, 37.Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said that Gonzalez, of 610 Beaver St., died of a single gunshot to the chest.The......
2009-09-22 00:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Police are investigating several recent burglaries and have made arrests in several of them.New Holland police responded to an alarm at Burkholder Manufacturing, 329 N. Railroad Ave., at 4:59 a.m. Monday, police said.An officer arrived less than a minute after the alarm sounded and ......
2009-09-22 00:06:00
JENNIFER TODD and P.J. REILLY
Search-and-rescue crews were looking Monday night for a 2-year-old boy who was reported missing shortly after dusk in West Lampeter Township.At press time, firefighters from several departments, along with a K-9 team, were searching an area on Spring Hollow Road, between Wheatland School R......
2009-09-21 07:50:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A relative failed to secure a shotgun and ammunition that a 6-year-old boy then played with, firing a shot that killed a 5-year-old boy Sept. 5 on an Earl Township farm, police said today. New Holland Police have charged Randall N. Hoover, 18, of 140 Fairmount Road, Ephrata, with recklessly end......
2009-09-21 00:04:00
JENNIFER TODD
It's an easy target.Small and typically attached with a suction cup, a Global Positioning System device can be quickly swiped from the dashboard of a vehicle.Even if thieves have to break a window, they can be in and out in less than a minute, according to East Lampeter Township......
2009-09-20 00:21:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Finito. Done. Over. The letter from Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray to Lancaster Township officials was dated July 21, and it got right to the point. The city was terminating its agreement to provide police coverage to the township, effective Dec. 31. The agreement had been in place since ear......
2009-09-20 00:17:00
STAFF
A man died in an early morning blaze in a Columbia Borough home Saturday. The name of the victim was not immediately available from fire officials or the coroner. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday. The victim apparently was alone in the home at 1114 Lancaster Ave., according to Jeff Helm,......
2009-09-18 00:04:00
STAFF REPORT
A pickup truck was struck Thursday night by a tanker truck carrying gasoline near the intersection of routes 772 and 272 in West Earl Township.Lancaster Hazardous Material teams were called out because the impact broke a dispensing nozzle on the side of the tanker, spilling gasoline on the......
2009-09-18 00:02:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Lancaster city man fled from police at speeds up to 75 mph, endangering pedestrians and other motorists before crashing the car into a Beaver Street home, police said.No one was injured during the incident Wednesday afternoon, police said, which started shortly after 3 p.m., when streets......
2009-09-17 00:03:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Two people were injured in a two-vehicle accident Wednesday morning in Willow Street, police said.The 6:08 a.m. wreck occurred along Willow Street Pike (Route 272) at Beaver Valley Pike (Route 741), known as Mylin's Corner. ...
2009-09-17 00:02:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A Manheim Township woman who encountered an intruder wearing a ski mask and gloves in her bedroom early Tuesday drove him away with a two-by-four, police said.The woman, who is in her 20s, struck the burglar with the board as he walked into her bedroom in her Knollwood Drive home in the Su......
2009-09-16 08:33:00
BERNARD HARRIS
For 38 years, Lancaster city has had a contract to provide police services to surrounding Lancaster Township.It took Mayor Rick Gray just four years to lose that contract, his predecessor and political rival Charlie Smithgall said Tuesday.The day after Lancaster Township supervisors......
2009-09-16 08:27:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
If Lancaster Township finalizes an agreement for police protection, it will get access to all resources of Manheim Township's police department, from detective services to its so-called "Fifth Squad," which works on nuisance crimes and other problems.Lancaster Township will &......
2009-09-16 00:01:00
JANET KELLEY
The bank robbery seemed to go as planned for Charles Everitt King.Nobody got hurt, and he escaped with the money — except that it was tainted red with dye.But King apparently didn't think through the part about spending the tainted money.He took it to area convenien......
2009-09-15 20:57:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Manheim Township police are asking for the public's help as they try to identify a theft suspect.On Aug. 11, a member of Universal Athletic Club, 2323 Oregon Pike, reported that his car keys were stolen from an unlocked locker at the club, police said. The keys were then used to enter ......
2009-09-15 10:06:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Three women sustained major injuries in separate traffic accidents involving out-of-state drivers Monday.A two-car wreck occurred at 3:14 p.m. along East Newport Road (Route 772) at its intersection with Carriage Drive in Leacock Township, state police said.Eva B. Stoltzfus, 47, of ......
2009-09-15 00:04:00
JENNIFER TODD
East Hempfield Township police have charged two Lancaster city residents with the assault of a pregnant beauty school student earlier this month.Todd James Cook, of 328 S. Ann St., and Iris Lynett Ortiz, of 215 Howard Ave., both 21, are facing felony aggravated assault charges for the brut......
2009-09-15 00:02:00
DAVID O’CONNOR and LARRY ALEXANDER
After 38 years, it appears Lancaster Township will be protected by a new police force starting Jan. 1.Following a lengthy debate on the issue Monday night, Lancaster Township supervisors Tony Allen, Kathy Wasong and Tom Schaller voted to approve an agreement with Manheim Township for polic......
2009-09-14 20:02:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Three people were arrested and charged in five recent thefts from vehicles in Manheim Township, police said.They are: Carlos Noel Agosto, 27, and Pedro Alexander Colon, 30, both of 728 St. Joseph St.; and Fernando Cruz-Doitteau, 27, of 1635 Judie Lane.In response to recent thefts fr......
2009-09-14 11:39:00
JANET KELLEY and RYAN ROBINSON
Two people were injured Saturday when an ambulance responding to an emergency collided with a van on Old Philadelphia Pike.The accident happened about 10:30 p.m. at Old Philadelphia Pike and Horseshoe Road in East Lampeter Township.The van, being driven south on Horseshoe Road by Ju......
2009-09-14 08:01:00
Last week, a Lancaster Township task force voted 3-2 to recommend that township supervisors accept Manheim Township's bid of just over $1 million per year to offer police protection to Lancaster Township rather than renew Lancaster city's contract at $1.7 million.The decision is sh......
2009-09-13 00:18:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
It's been a rough few months on Columbia Avenue. Since April, the heavily traveled route out of the City of Lancaster has been the scene of seven high-profile crimes, including armed robberies and savage beatings, all within a half-mile stretch between Wheatland Shopping Center and Good ......
2009-09-13 00:16:00
STAFF
A Lancaster city police officer was injured in a two-vehicle crash which happened around 4:45 p.m. Saturday. City police said that Officer Chad Binderup was responding to an incident when his cruiser became involved in a collision at East Chestnut and North Queen streets. Binderup was t......
