Office charged with voluntary manslaughter in shooting

ALLENTOWN, PA. » A police officer has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a man reported to have been hanging on or jumping on moving cars near a Pennsylvania amusement park.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Tuesday that 33-year-old South Whitehall Township officer Jonathan Roselle had an “unreasonable” belief that his safety was endangered when he fired July 28 near Dorney Park.

Martin said 44-year-old Joseph Santos of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, was approaching but displayed no weapon or threatening posture. He said the officer, who he called “relatively inexperienced,” could also have used his baton, stun gun or pepper spray.

Defense attorneys said in a statement that Roselle, who is on paid leave, believes his actions were justified and appropriate given the circumstances.

Pennsylvania couple pleads guilty in animal hoarding case

BRISTOL, PA. » A couple who admitted hoarding dozens of cats and a few exotic birds in squalor inside their Pennsylvania apartment have been spared a prison term but are barred from owning any more animals.

Court records show that Bristol residents Warren Muffler and Ann Reddy were each sentenced to 36 months of probation. That came after they pleaded guilty Monday to animal cruelty charges.

Investigators found the animals last November. Authorities say one of the birds had to be euthanized and some of the cats required emergency surgery, including one female with an infected uterus and another that lost his eye.

2 children safely removed, dad hospitalized after standoff

PHILADELPHIA » Authorities say two young children were safely removed from a Philadelphia home after a man who was speaking incoherently kept police at bay for about two hours.

Police responded to the home around 12:40 a.m. Tuesday after being told the 41-year-old man was screaming from a third-floor bedroom window. Officers asked the man to leave the home, but he refused.

Authorities say at one point the man picked up his 3-year-old daughter and held her “threateningly” near an open third-floor window, spurring concern he would drop her. So a SWAT team eventually entered the residence and arrested the man, who was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

The man’s daughter and her 6-year-old brother were not harmed during the standoff and were reunited with their mother.

Wolf sets up commission to address LGBTQ-related issues

HARRISBURG, PA. » Pennsylvania’s governor is establishing a group to “help coordinate and drive statewide equality efforts” regarding sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order Monday creating the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs.

Wolf says the 40-person panel will take over efforts that had been done by a work group he set up shortly after taking office in 2015.

It will advise him and work with other entities at various levels of government on issues and programs related to the LGBTQ community.

Its executive director is Todd Snovel, who has worked recently as the assistant dean for engagement and inclusion at Lebanon Valley College in Annville.

The Pennsylvania governor also oversees commissions on African-American affairs , Asian Pacific affairs , Latino affairs and women .

State prison staffers sickened by suspicious substance

MERCER, PA. » Pennsylvania officials say six staff members at a state prison were sickened by a suspicious substance.

The workers were searching a cell and packing inmate property around 2 p.m. Monday at the State Correctional Institution at Mercer when they either came into contact with the substance or someone who had contact with the substance.

All six were treated at a hospital. Five of the staffers were released later Monday, but the sixth required the administration of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone.

State police and corrections officials are investigating the incident.

Missing NYC woman found slain in Philadelphia basement

PHILADELPHIA » Police say a missing New York City woman was found shot to death in a north Philadelphia basement, and a man found driving her sport-utility vehicle last week is in custody in Virginia.

Authorities say an autopsy Monday confirmed the decomposing body found in the home in the Feltonville neighborhood as that of 50-yearold Vianelba Tavera of the Bronx, who was killed by a gunshot wound to the head.

Tavera was last seen leaving her home early July 28. After she was reported missing, her SUV was stopped by Fairfax County police July 30 and 38-year-old Luis Negron-Martinez was arrested on stolen auto and weapon charges. A listed number for him couldn’t be found; it’s unclear whether he has an attorney.