Judge won’t dismiss corruption case against Allentown mayor
PHILADELPHIA » A federal judge won’t dismiss corruption charges against the mayor of Pennsylvania’s third-largest city.
Court records show a request to toss out the indictment against Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski was denied Tuesday.
The Democrat is accused of accepting more than $150,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for city business. He has pleaded not guilty.
Pawlowski’s lawyer asked the judge to dismiss the case last month, arguing that prosecutors used testimony based on hearsay and withheld evidence during his grand jury indictment. The attorney was not immediately available for comment on the judge’s decision.
He recently won a fourth term in office in the city of about 120,000 people.
Former secretary for DA pleads guilty to stealing $143,000
ERIE, PA. » A former office manager and lead secretary for a Pennsylvania county prosecutor has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $143,000 from the office’s bank accounts.
The Erie Times-News reports 43-year-old Jennifer Sasso entered her plea Monday to a felony count of theft by unlawful taking and a misdemeanor count of tampering with records.
Sasso was charged in March for stealing money from three office accounts since December 2010. Most of the money, about $91,000, came from forfeitures in drug cases.
The investigation into the missing money began when police departments questioned delays in overtime pay for officers in Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri’s Drug Task Force. Sasso had worked for the district attorney’s office since 2003.
Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 16.
Hiding suspect falls through ceiling in front of officer
SCRANTON, PA. » A Pennsylvania man hiding from police in the crawl space of his girlfriend’s home has been taken into custody after he fell through the ceiling directly in front of an officer.
Police were searching the Scranton home Sunday for 29-year-old Justin Thompson, who was wanted on charges of assault and harassment.
The (Scranton) TimesTribune reports that officers found Thompson in the crawl space and tried to grab him. He was able to get away, but then plunged into the kitchen, where an officer was waiting.
Police say there were children nearby when Thompson fell, leading to a charge of endangering the welfare of children. He also picked up charges of resisting arrest and reckless endangerment.
His girlfriend was charged with hindering apprehension.
No attorney information is available.
Trooper injured in roadside shooting released from hospital
EASTON, PA. » Pennsylvania State Police say a trooper who was critically injured in a roadside confrontation has been released from the hospital as he continues to recover.
State Police wrote in a Facebook posting Monday that Cpl. Seth Kelly has been sent home from the hospital after nearly a month there.
Officials say Kelly, a 13year veteran, was helping another trooper arrest a man they suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana when a fight broke out Nov. 7. Kelly was shot in the neck, shoulder area and leg during the fight.
The suspect, 22-year-old Daniel Clary, was shot several times and hospitalized. He has since been released into police custody.
Clary is facing charges including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and aggravated assault.
Some pipeline protesters intend to fight trespassing charges
COLUMBIA, PA. » Seven people arrested at a protest of a $3 billion pipeline being built to carry natural gas from northeastern Pennsylvania to southern states intend to fight their charges at trial.
LNP newspaper reports that the protesters entered not guilty pleas to charges of defiant criminal trespass on Monday.
They were arrested in October after trying to keep construction crews off a cornfield owned by a Roman Catholic order of nuns. The Adorers of the Blood of Christ have sued in federal court to stop the project. The suit was dismissed by a federal judge. That ruling is under appeal.
Thirteen other people arrested at the protest pleaded no contest and two pleaded guilty. Another is being processed through the juvenile court system.
Philadelphia pays $250K to settle police photo lawsuits
PHILADELPHIA » The city of Philadelphia will pay $250,000 to two people who said they were roughed up while taking photographs of police officers.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday announced settlements in the cases of Amanda Geraci and Rick Fields.
Fields says an officer handcuffed him and broke the screen of his phone because he was taking photos of police responding to what looked like the scene of a party in 2013. He says the officer asked him “Do you like taking pictures of grown men?”
Geraci says an officer pinned her up against a pillar and shouted in her face because she took photographs of an arrest in 2012.
A city spokesman says settling the lawsuits were in the “best interests” of Philadelphia.
GOP lawmaker suggests Democrat who touched him may be gay
HARRISBURG, PA. » A committee meeting in Pennsylvania’s capitol was briefly derailed by a Republican representative who asked a male colleague to stop touching him, suggesting that the Democrat might be gay.
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe said, “I don’t like men, as you might,” after Rep. Matt Bradford placed his hand on Metcalfe’s forearm during a meeting of the state government committee Tuesday. Metcalfe went on to say “you have people on your side of the aisle that might like it. I don’t.”
A visibly stunned Bradford laughed and said the meeting was “officially off the rails.” He requested a sidebar to discuss what he called “extraneous issues.”
Bradford’s online biography says he has a wife and children.
Neither man could be reached for comment.