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Police & Fire
Overdue Rent Led To Homicide Of MD Man On PA Highway: DA Overdue Rent Led To Homicide Of MD Man On PA Highway: DA
Overdue Rent Led To Homicide Of MD Man On PA Highway: DA An overdue rent payment is believed to have motivated a Maryland man to kill his passenger while traveling on a highway in Pennsylvania, according to a release by the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.  Miguel Vazquez-Ruiz, 54, of Baltimore, was found shot to death on U.S. 222 South, in Brecknock Township Lancaster County near the Berks County line at mile marker 48.6 at 7:07 a.m. on Sunday, April 23, according to Pennsylvania State Police.  An autopsy performed by the Lancaster County Coroner's Office revealed he sustained five gunshot wou…

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by Jillian Pikora
Weather
Once In 1,000 Years Flood Leaves Residents Underwater In Eastern PA (PHOTOS) Once In 1,000 Years Flood Leaves Residents Underwater In Eastern PA (PHOTOS)
Once In 1,000 Years Flood Leaves Residents Underwater In Eastern PA (Photos) Days after a "1,000-year flood" drenched portions of the Northeastern US over the weekend, Berks County residents impacted by the rainfall are beginning to rebuild.  Heavy downpours from a powerful storm system have left communities throughout the region in disrepair and have killed at least one person in New York state, Daily Voice has reported.  In Berks, residents are taking to GoFundMe to raise money to undo the damage.  Israel Fuentes of Reading says his family's entire basement was flooded under four feet of water during the storm. While he, his wife, and their three children are s…

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by Mac Bullock
News
Lawn Mower Severs Hand Of 3-Year-Old Boy In PA Lawn Mower Severs Hand Of 3-Year-Old Boy In PA
Lawn Mower Severs Hand Of 3-Year-Old Boy In PA Two weeks after a Berks County boy was badly hurt in a lawn mower accident, neighbors and well-wishers are pitching in to help his loved ones cover mounting costs.  Kelly Smith Stringfellow of Reading said on GoFundMe that her grandson Bradley was at a babysitter's house when he was "backed over" by a lawn mower on June 21.  "He lost his entire thumb, fingers, and part of his hand on his dominant right hand due to the blades not turning off," she wrote.  Since then, 3-year-old Bradley has undergone multiple surgeries with more on the horizon, his grandmother said.  "He…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Woman, 33, Dead In Domestic Incident; Suspect In Custody: Berks DA Woman, 33, Dead In Domestic Incident; Suspect In Custody: Berks DA
Woman, 33, Dead In Domestic Incident; Suspect In Custody: Berks DA A woman is dead and a man faces criminal charges following a "domestic incident" in Berks County Friday morning, prosecutors say.  Harrison Adu Boakye, 46, of Fleetwood was arrested at the scene on July 7, 2023, Berks District Attorney John T. Adams' Office said in a statement. Fleetwood Borough Police were called to the incident at Boakye's home on Middletown Road around 8:30 a.m., according to the DA. They arrived at the house to find a 33-year-old woman unresponsive, authorities said. Life-saving aid was rendered by first responders "but failed," and she was pronounced dead, …

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Toddler's Killer Captured By US Marshals In Philadelphia: Cops Toddler's Killer Captured By US Marshals In Philadelphia: Cops
Toddler's Killer Captured By US Marshals In Philadelphia: Cops A man accused of killing a 2-year-old Berks County boy was arrested by US Marshals in Philadelphia early on Thursday, July 6, according to authorities.  Charles A. Acosta, 25, was taken into custody in Tacony, Marshals said.  Acosta was caring for the 2-year-old victim, the boy's younger brother, and his own daughter while his partner and her daughter went out to pick up laundry on the evening of May 4, the Berks County District Attorney's Office said. Acosta called his girlfriend and told her to return to their Bern Township home after the child became "swollen and lethargic" an…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Lehighton Area School Teacher Charged In Human Trafficking Sting: District Lehighton Area School Teacher Charged In Human Trafficking Sting: District
Lehighton Area School Teacher Charged In Human Trafficking Sting: District A Carbon County teacher faces criminal charges in connection with a sex trafficking investigation, school administrators say.  Michael Feifel, a social studies teacher at Lehighton Area High School according to his LinkedIn, "was arrested as a result of a (...) joint investigation of Berks, Northampton, and Lehigh counties," said Dr. Christina Fish, Lehighton superintendent. "The district and Mr. Feifel are cooperating with the investigation," Fish wrote in a message on the district website.   "Mr. Feifel is currently not involved in any coaching or teaching over the summer …

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Serial Armed Robber Sought In Berks County, Troopers Say Serial Armed Robber Sought In Berks County, Troopers Say
Serial Armed Robber Sought In Berks County, Troopers Say State police in berks County are looking for the suspect they say robbed a gas station at gunpoint two times in the same week.  The crimes occurred at the Sunoco at 3123 Pricetown Road in Alsace Township, troopers said in a release.  In the first robbery on Saturday, June 10, the suspect approached the back door from Oley Road around 4:45 a.m. and ordered an employee to follow him inside, police said.  Then he took out a gun and made the employee wait by the cooler as he filled a cardboard box with "tobacco products," according to authorities. The worker was forced to o…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
14-Year-Old Charged In Berks County Drive-By Shooting 14-Year-Old Charged In Berks County Drive-By Shooting
14-Year-Old Charged In Berks County Drive-By Shooting A 14-year-old suspect has been charged in connection with the drive-by shooting of two other minors on a Berks County road late Saturday night.  The two victims, aged 15 and 17, were walking along the 1200 block of Reading Avenue in Douglass Township when a car pulled up and shot them both, Daily Voice has reported.  Responding officers found one victim with a gunshot wound to the gut and another with injuries to the knee and shoulder, per the release. The two were rushed to Reading Hospital and Trauma Center where police say they are "expected to be okay." Now, authorities say t…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Pair Of 'Juveniles' Shot In Berks County: Police Pair Of 'Juveniles' Shot In Berks County: Police
Pair Of 'Juveniles' Shot In Berks County: Police Two young men were hospitalized with gunshot wounds after being attacked on a Berks County street late Saturday night, according to authorities.  It happened in Douglass, township police wrote in a release. A pair of "juvenile males" were walking along the 1200 block of Reading Avenue just before midnight on Saturday, June 10, the department said.  Responding officers found one victim with a gunshot wound to the gut and another with injuries to the knee and shoulder, per the release. The two were rushed to Reading Hospital and Trauma Center where police say they are "expected to b…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Auburn Man Raped Berks Teen At Knifepoint On Her Way To School, Jury Finds Auburn Man Raped Berks Teen At Knifepoint On Her Way To School, Jury Finds
Auburn Man Raped Berks Teen At Knifepoint On Her Way To School, Jury Finds A man who was accused of raping a Reading teenager at knifepoint while she walked to school last spring is guilty, a Berks County jury has ruled.  Sean Samuels, now 39, of Auburn, was convicted of rape and related offenses on Wednesday, June 7, District Attorney John T. Adams' Office said in a release.  It happened around 8 a.m. on March 16 of last year, Daily Voice reported.  The victim, a 14-year-old girl, told police she was walking to school on the 1200 block of Hill Road when she was abducted at knifepoint, taken to another location, and sexually assaulted twice.  readingReading …

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Missing Berks Child 'May Be At Special Risk Of Harm': State Police Missing Berks Child 'May Be At Special Risk Of Harm': State Police
Missing Berks Child 'May Be At Special Risk Of Harm': State Police State police in Berks County are seeking a 5-year-old boy who they say "may be at special risk of harm or injury."  Michael Balthaser of Strausstown was last seen with 30-year-old Noah Balthaser near 28 Main Street in Upper Tulpehocken Township around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, troopers said in a release.  Michael Balthaser is described as 3-foot-5 and 60 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a black flannel shirt, a gray hoodie, tan cargo pants, and a camouflage baseball hat, police said.  Noah Balthaser drives a 2014 Dodge Ram 1500 with Pennsylvania tag number ZCM0202, pol…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Berks Woman Charged In Amity Man's 2022 Overdose Death Berks Woman Charged In Amity Man's 2022 Overdose Death
Berks Woman Charged In Amity Man's 2022 Overdose Death A Berks County woman faces criminal charges in connection with the overdose death of an Amity Township man late last year.  Ashley Pupek, 34, of Birdsboro, is accused of drug delivery resulting in death and related counts, said District Attorney John T. Adams' Office in a statement on Tuesday, June 6.  Prosecutors said the unnamed Amity man was pronounced dead in his Douglassville apartment in the early morning hours on Nov. 4, 2022. There, investigators found "evidence of illegal drug use" and paraphernalia, the DA's Office said.  The next day, Amity police and Berks detect…

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by Mac Bullock