Police: Man assaults 2 officers, steals cruiser
PHILADELPHIA » Authorities say two Philadelphia police officers are in stable condition at a hospital after a pedestrian they stopped to question assaulted them and took off in their cruiser.
Police say the assault happened around 9:30 p.m. Saturday in west Philadelphia. They say that after driving away, the suspect later abandoned the cruiser. He then broke into the rear of a home, where a resident fought him off.
Police have arrested the suspect. He hasn’t been identified.
The officers are being treated at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
Crash halts Interstate 95 traffic in Northeast Philadelphia
Traffic is moving again after a crash had brought vehicles along southbound Interstate 95 in Northeast Philadelphia to a standstill.
Pennsylvania State Police remain on the scene Sunday morning between Pennsylvania Route 63 West-Woodhaven Road and Academy Road-Linden Avenue.
Traffic was backed up for one mile before police opened one lane just before 8 a.m. Details of the crash that involved at least two vehicles were not immediately available.
Steve Gilson of Levittown Pennsylvania and his son were caught in the backup. Gilson is a coach with the Lower Bucks prospects baseball team playing in a tournament in Boothwyn Pennsylvania, about 35 miles (56.32 kilometers) away. Gilson said “it’s frustrating” but he just hoped to be at the ball field in time for his 9 a.m. game.
Man, 18, slain while watching fistfight
CORAOPOLIS, PA. » Police in western Pennsylvania say an 18-year-old man was slain when shots were fired into a group of people gathered to watch a fistfight.
Officers and emergency responders in Allegheny County were sent to an address in Kennedy Township after gunshots were reported and found the victim, who died at a hospital. The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office identified him as 18-year-old Jassin Al-Maleky of McKees Rocks.
Homicide investigators say he and other young people were at the scene “to watch a fistfight between two young men.” During the fight, one of the onlookers produced a handgun and fired into the group. The victim was struck and ran to a neighboring yard.
Police said everyone present has been identified and the investigation continues. No arrests were immediately announced.
Autopsy planned on body of man shot by police officer
ALLENTOWN, PA. » An autopsy is planned Tuesday on the body of a man shot and killed by a police officer after witnesses say he was damaging cars and interfering with traffic.
The Lehigh County coroner’s office identified the man only as a John Doe and said other information would be released once his identity is confirmed and his family notified.
Witnesses said the man had broken the window of one vehicle and done other damage in South Whitehall Township on Saturday evening. An officer confronted him and later opened fire, hitting him at least once.
District Attorney Jim Martin told lehighvalleylive.com that the man “was behaving, what I would characterize as, bizarrely” in several encounters. The district attorney, a county homicide task force and state police are investigating.
2 in custody after Pennsylvania-to-NY highway chase, crash
SHERMAN, N.Y. » Authorities say two people wanted in Pennsylvania are in custody after leading police on a highway chase that ended in a crash in western New York.
The sheriff’s office in Chautauqua (shuh-TAW’kwuh), New York says police in Erie, Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania state troopers attempted to stop the suspects’ vehicle around 11 a.m. Saturday.
Police say the 48-year-old man driving the vehicle refused to stop and kept driving east on Interstate 86 until he crossed into New York.
The vehicle crashed and spun around near the Sherman exit, where the suspect began driving west in the eastbound lanes.
Deputies say a Pennsylvania trooper used his car to hit the fleeing vehicle, disabling it.
The male suspect was taken to an Erie hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The 36-year-old woman with him is also in custody.
Defendant who was 17 at time of 2016 murder gets 38 years
TRENTON, N.J. » A defendant convicted of the murder of a man who authorities said was lured into a New Jersey alley and shot has been sentenced to 38 years in prison.
NJ.com reports that Mada Eoff was 17 years old when 19-year-old Lance Beckett was killed in an alley in Trenton’s West Ward in September 2016.
Eoff opted for a trial after a judge ruled that he should be tried in adult court. He was convicted of murder in January.
Two other defendants reached plea bargains. One, serving eight years after a manslaughter plea, testified that Eoff was the one who shot Beckett. The other defendant was sentenced to three years after an aggravated assault plea.
Coroner: Manner of death of man at jail undetermined
YORK, PA. » A coroner says the manner of death of a Delaware man at a Pennsylvania county jail hasn’t been determined.
The York County coroner said Saturday that 41-yearold Everett Palmer Jr. of Seaford, Delaware died early April 9 of “complications following an excited state, associated with methamphetamine toxicity, during physical restraint.” The report said “sickling red cell disorder” was probably a contributing factor. Initial reports said he died after he began hitting his head on his cell door.
The manner of death — such as homicide, suicide, accidental or natural — hasn’t been determined. Coroner Pam Gay said a state police investigation may allow a determination later.
Palmer had been in custody for two days on a driving under the influence charge. His family has questioned the circumstances of his death.