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Sinking Spring, PA

Teen Groomed, Assaulted At Berkshire Mall By Sinking Spring Man: Police Teen Groomed, Assaulted At Berkshire Mall By Sinking Spring Man: Police
Teen Groomed, Assaulted At Berkshire Mall By Sinking Spring Man: Police A Sinking Spring man is accused of grooming and sexually assaulting a juvenile girl at a novelty store inside the Berkshire Mall, Wyomissing police announced on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Steven P. Najarian was arrested after an extensive investigation into unlawful sexual encounters involving a juvenile female, authorities said. Police determined that Najarian groomed the victim before the alleged assaults at the store located at 1665 State Hill Road in Wyomissing. Wyomissing detectives believe there may be additional victims who have not yet come forward, according to the release. "The Wyomissing…
Two Men Charged In Berks County Underage Human Trafficking Sting: DA Two Men Charged In Berks County Underage Human Trafficking Sting: DA
Two Men Charged In Berks County Underage Human Trafficking Sting: DA Two men have been charged in connection with an undercover operation targeting underage human trafficking in Berks County, authorities announced on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. Keith George Manwiller, 49, of Hummelstown, and Mathew Christian Koroma, 23, of Sinking Spring, were arrested during the sting conducted by the Berks County District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force, according to Chief County Detective Michael Gombar. Both men are accused of responding to online ads placed by detectives on websites commonly used for sexual advertisements. The suspects allegedly agreed to meet and p…
CEO Charged With DUI After Stop On Route 222: Police CEO Charged With DUI After Stop On Route 222: Police
CEO Charged With DUI After Stop On Route 222: Police The CEO of Optimum Controls Corporation has been charged with driving under the influence after a traffic stop in Lancaster County, police announced on Saturday, Nov. 23. Michael Galiyano, 76, of Sinking Spring, was pulled over near mile marker 47 on Route 222 North in Denver at approximately 9:38 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, according to East Cocalico Township Police. Officers reported that Galiyano appeared impaired, and a breath test revealed a blood alcohol concentration of .187%, more than double the legal limit of .08%. Galiyano leads Optimum Controls Corporation, a Reading-based company t…
Berks Man Had 400+ Files Of Child Pornography On Phone, DA Says Berks Man Had 400+ Files Of Child Pornography On Phone, DA Says
Berks Man Had 400+ Files Of Child Pornography On Phone, DA Says A Sinking Spring man was taken into custody after a police raid turned up hundreds of files of child sexual abuse material, said Berks County prosecutors.  Andrew M. Bush was charged with child pornography and related counts, wrote the District Attorney's Office in a release.  Authorities said they received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for a “MediaLab/KIK” account associated with Bush. They executed a search warrant at his Beavens Road home and seized his cell phone, according to prosecutors.  In an interview with detectives, t…
COLD CASE: Redner's Executive Found Beaten To Death In Berks County COLD CASE: Redner's Executive Found Beaten To Death In Berks County
Cold CASE: Redner's Executive Found Beaten To Death In Berks County Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the cold case murder of a grocery store executive in Berks County.  Gary Redner, executive vice president of Redner's Warehouse Market, was found beaten to death on a neighbor's property on March 9, 2008, according to PSP.  Redner, 55, was last seen leaving Ganley's Pub at 500 Brownsville Road in Sinking Spring around 7 p.m. the night before, troopers say. The bar was only a quarter mile west of his home on the 400 block of Reber’s Bridge Road in Lower Heidelberg.  His car was found parked in his driveway, authorities said.&nb…
Spring Cleaning: Berks Car Wash To Offer Free Service This Weekend Spring Cleaning: Berks Car Wash To Offer Free Service This Weekend
Spring Cleaning: Berks Car Wash To Offer Free Service This Weekend Berks area drivers can wash away the winter grime free of charge on Sunday, March 24.  Tommy's Express Car Wash at 4624 Penn Avenue in Sinking Spring will offer free washes, vacuum use, and floor mat washes, the company said on Facebook.  Detail kits for interior cleaning will also be available for purchase, they added. 
Armed Kidnapper Forced Victim Into Car Before Sexual Assault: Reading Police Armed Kidnapper Forced Victim Into Car Before Sexual Assault: Reading Police
Armed Kidnapper Forced Victim Into Car Before Sexual Assault: Reading Police A suspect is in custody after police say a juvenile girl was forced into a car at gunpoint and sexually assaulted in Reading on Wednesday, March 13.  Liam Wilkinson, 24, is charged with rape, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and related felony offenses, according to Reading police and state court records.  Authorities said Wilkinson approached the victim near the corner of North 3rd Street and Douglass Street at 3 p.m. and displayed a handgun before forcing her into the car. Police said he took her to a secondary location and sexually assaulted her.  The juvenile victim was e…
Pair Caught In Berks County Human Trafficking Sting, Police Say Pair Caught In Berks County Human Trafficking Sting, Police Say
Pair Caught In Berks County Human Trafficking Sting, Police Say Two men were arrested last month as part of a police sting on human trafficking in Berks County, authorities say.  The District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force posted phony listings on websites "commonly used for sexual advertisements," Spring Township police said in a release.  On Jan. 29, suspects responded to the ads and agreed to pay for sex with 14- and 15-year-olds, authorities said.  Spring police announced two arrests in connection with the sting: James Edward Moon, 67, of Sinking Spring, was charged with IDSI of a person under 16, statutory sexual assault,…
Undercover Bust: 5 People Seeking Sex With Teens Met By Detectives In Berks County, DA Says Undercover Bust: 5 People Seeking Sex With Teens Met By Detectives In Berks County, DA Says
Undercover Bust: 5 People Seeking Sex With Teens Met By Detectives In Berks County, DA Says Five people seeking sex with teens have been arrested in an undercover Berks County sting, authorities said. All five individuals responded to an ad, posted on Monday, Jan. 19 by detectives, offering sex with 14- and 15-year-old juveniles at various locations in Berks County, the county district attorney's office announced. The individuals agreed to meet up and have sex with the "teens," but instead were met by detectives and promptly arrested, District Attorney John T. Adams said. The following arrests were made, according to Adams: Richard Keene, 70, of Reading, charged with Traff…
Berks Mom Sentenced For Stabbing Fiance To Death While Daughter Was Home: DA Berks Mom Sentenced For Stabbing Fiance To Death While Daughter Was Home: DA
Berks Mom Sentenced For Stabbing Fiance To Death While Daughter Was Home: DA A Sinking Spring woman will spend up to two decades behind bars for stabbing her fiance to death during an "altercation" more than three years ago, said the Berks County District Attorney's Office in a release.  Jillian R. Blimline, now 41, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years after pleading no contest to the third-degree murder of Chad MacWilliam, according to officials.  Authorities have said they were called to Blimline and MacWilliam's shared home at 20 Maywood Avenue around 9 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2020.  Police and medics arrived to find MacWilliam, 39, apparently suffering …
Accused Birthday Party Shooter Arrested In Reading: Berks DA Accused Birthday Party Shooter Arrested In Reading: Berks DA
Accused Birthday Party Shooter Arrested In Reading: Berks DA Authorities in Berks County say they arrested the gunman who opened fire at a Sinking Spring birthday party over the summer.  Twenty-six-year-old Jayce Donte Lee was arrested by US Marshals at a Reading home early on Tuesday, Oct. 17, the District Attorney's Office said.  Investigators claim Lee, of Folcroft, showed up to a Butternut Court birthday party on Aug. 20 with a stolen gun.  About thirty minutes after midnight, police say he "brandished and fired" the weapon, hitting one 22-year-old victim in the abdomen and another in the thigh and hand.  Authorities said Le…
Berks Woman Who Claimed To Find Injured Dog Was Actually The Owner, Troopers Say Berks Woman Who Claimed To Find Injured Dog Was Actually The Owner, Troopers Say
Berks Woman Who Claimed To Find Injured Dog Was Actually The Owner, Troopers Say A Berks County woman who claimed that she found an injured dog and her dead puppies along the side of the road was actually the animal's owner, according to a release from state troopers.  Bryanna Wagner, a 23-year-old from Leesport, brought a dog to Zoe’s House Rescue in Sinking Spring on May 7, police said. The animal, who rescue workers took to calling "Sadie," was in "rough shape" at the time of her rescue, the team said on Facebook.  She couldn't stand, she had recently given birth, she had developed a "raging" uterine infection, her body was "septic," and she weighed half as much as …
Pennsylvania Teacher Accused Of Sending Explicit Photos To 15-Year-Old Boy (UPDATE) Pennsylvania Teacher Accused Of Sending Explicit Photos To 15-Year-Old Boy (UPDATE)
Pennsylvania Teacher Accused Of Sending Explicit Photos To 15-Year-Old Boy (Update) An elementary teacher in Berks County is in police custody, after authorities say he sent explicit photos to a 15-year-old boy he had been grooming for years.   Ryan G. Blew, 24, of Sinking Spring, surrendered to county detectives on Wednesday, Nov. 16 after a warrant was issued for his arrest, said Berks District Attorney John T. Adams in a statement.  Blew is listed as a second-grade teacher at Spring Ridge Elementary School in Wyomissing on the Wilson School District website. His employment status as of Wednesday was not immediately clear.  Authorities said they began investigating Ble…
Inmates Among 8 Busted In Drug Smuggling Ring: Berks DA Inmates Among 8 Busted In Drug Smuggling Ring: Berks DA
Inmates Among 8 Busted In Drug Smuggling Ring: Berks DA Eight people including four inmates have been charged in connection with a drug-smuggling operation at the Berks County Jail, authorities have announced.  The arrests came after a months-long investigation uncovered a conspiracy between inmates and people outside the jail to smuggle in marijuana and Suboxone, an opioid withdrawal drug, said Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams. Investigators believe the incarcerated suspects — 41-year-old Brian Oliver, 30-year-old Bryan Williams, 32-year-old Thomas Reimert, and 38-year-old Andre Keyes — encouraged their contacts outsi…
$10K Reward Offered For Info On Suspect In Deadly Reading Shooting $10K Reward Offered For Info On Suspect In Deadly Reading Shooting
$10K Reward Offered For Info On Suspect In Deadly Reading Shooting Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of a gunman wanted in connection with a deadly Reading shooting. Jayquan Miguel Sanchez, 23, is charged with first and third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and other related offenses in the shooting death of 26-year-old Quadell Spradley, Reading police said. The Sinking Spring man was found dead on the 1200 Block of Church Street around 3:50 a.m. on July 31, authorities said. Quadell SpradleyGoFundMe He was remembered in his obituary as "a hardworking and selfless man" who worked as a health insurance agen…
Reading Officer Justified In Shooting Wanted Man Outside Wawa, DA Says Reading Officer Justified In Shooting Wanted Man Outside Wawa, DA Says
Reading Officer Justified In Shooting Wanted Man Outside Wawa, DA Says A Reading police officer was justified in shooting a wanted man who had struck him with his car while trying to flee from a Wawa parking lot last month, authorities said. "The actions of a Reading police officer on September 14, 2022, was a reasonable act of self-defense and defense of another," District Attorney John T. Adams announced on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Emanuel Padilla-Tirado, 31, had a warrant out for his arrest in connection with a Sept. 9 shooting in the city, when undercover and uniformed officers spotted his 2012 Chevrolet Malibu parked at the Wawa store on the 400 …
Police Shoot Wanted Man After Vehicle Strikes Officer Outside Reading Wawa: DA Police Shoot Wanted Man After Vehicle Strikes Officer Outside Reading Wawa: DA
Police Shoot Wanted Man After Vehicle Strikes Officer Outside Reading Wawa: DA Police shot a wanted man in Reading on Wednesday, Sept. 14, after an officer was struck by the car he was driving, authorities said. Officers on patrol around 4:45 p.m. saw Emanuel Padilla Tirado, 31, driving a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu, which was later parked at the Wawa on the 400 block of Lancaster Avenue, according to the Berks County District Attorney's Office. Investigators had been searching for Padilla Tirado and were aware that there was an active felony warrant for his arrest.  He had been wanted on aggravated assault charges stemming from a shooting that happened on Sept. 9 at …
Gunman Wanted For Deadly Reading Shooting: Police Gunman Wanted For Deadly Reading Shooting: Police
Gunman Wanted For Deadly Reading Shooting: Police Police in Berks County are seeking the public's help in locating a wanted man. Jayquan Miguel Sánchez is wanted on homicide charges in the shooting death of 26-year-old Quadell Spradley, Reading police said. Spradley, of Sinking Spring, was found dead on the 1200 Block of Church Street around 3:50 a.m. on Sunday, July 31, authorities said. More than $9,000 had been raised as of Monday, Aug. 8 on a GoFundMe for Spradley's funeral expenses. Quadell SpradleyGoFundMe "We’re asking if you can donate whatever you can to help our family give him the burial he deserves," reads the fundraiser,…
Pedestrian Struck, Killed By Train In Berks County: Report Pedestrian Struck, Killed By Train In Berks County: Report
Pedestrian Struck, Killed By Train In Berks County: Report A person was struck and killed by a freight train early Tuesday, July 26 in Berks County, Reading Eagle reports. A train struck the female pedestrian around 1:15 a.m. at the Columbia Avenue crossing in Sinking Spring, and her body was discovered near the Woodrow Avenue crossing, the outlet says. The victim, who was not identified, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to WFMZ. Click here for more from Reading Eagle and WFMZ.
22 Pounds Of Marijuana Mailed To Eastern PA Man From Florida: Police 22 Pounds Of Marijuana Mailed To Eastern PA Man From Florida: Police
22 Pounds Of Marijuana Mailed To Eastern PA Man From Florida: Police An eastern Pennsylvania man had 22 pounds of marijuana mailed to him from a sender in Florida, authorities said. Branden A. Jacobo, 22, of Sinking Spring, had officers waiting for him when he arrived at an unnamed shipping store on State Hill Road in Wyomissing to retrieve his two packages on Monday, June 6, borough police said. Officers responding to a tip opened the boxes and discovered 22 vacuum-sealed bags of weed, each weighing about one pound, they said. The drugs were valued at $50,000. Jacobo was arrested at the scene on outstanding scofflaw warrants, police said. A warr…
PD: Berks County Man Killed In Crash On Route 422 In South Heidelberg PD: Berks County Man Killed In Crash On Route 422 In South Heidelberg
PD: Berks County Man Killed In Crash On Route 422 In South Heidelberg A Berks County man was fatally struck by a car Wednesday evening while crossing the street on Route 422 east in South Heidelberg, authorities said. David Bagrud, 60, of Wernersville was crossing 422 east/Penn Avenue between Point Road and Mountain Boulevard, near the Moyer Nissan dealership, when he was hit by a car driven by 58-year-old Vincent Smith, of Sinking Spring around 6 p.m., according to South Heidelberg police. Smith’s SUV struck Bagrud with the right front bumper and passenger side mirror, causing him to be thrown into the air before landing on the shoulder of the eastbound…
Berks Man Posed As Young Boy To Get 10-Year-Old Girl To Send Nude Photos, Authorities Say Berks Man Posed As Young Boy To Get 10-Year-Old Girl To Send Nude Photos, Authorities Say
Berks Man Posed As Young Boy To Get 10-Year-Old Girl To Send Nude Photos, Authorities Say A 23-year-old Berks County man was arrested on various charges after he posed as a young boy online to coerce a 10-year-old girl to send him nude images, authorities said. An investigation ensued after the girl's father reported on May 28 that he discovered the sexually explicit conversations between his daughter and Dennis Heckrote, of Sinking Spring, dating back to when the girl was 8-years-old, according to Chief County Detective Michael J. Gombar. In a June 1 interview, the girl told Berks County Detectives that she messaged someone on TikTok and Discord, who she believed was …
36 More Defiant Pennsylvania Restaurants Closed 36 More Defiant Pennsylvania Restaurants Closed
36 More Defiant Pennsylvania Restaurants Closed Pennsylvania officials announced three dozen more restaurants that have closed following defiance of the state’s COVID-19 mitigation measures. The Department of Agriculture earlier this week said the 36 restaurants violated an indoor dining ban -- which was lifted Jan. 4 -- following unannounced inspections from Dec. 28 through Jan. 3. Gov. Wolf's temporary COVID-19 mitigation order mandated the closure of indoor dining, gyms and limiting indoor gatherings to a maximum capacity of 10 people. The following establishments were ordered temporarily closed according to a spokeswoman for th…