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1 dead, 1 wounded in New Castle club shooting

1 dead, 1 wounded in New Castle club shooting

Associated Press
NEW CASTLE A 24-year-old man is dead and another is wounded after a shooting at a night club.

Police say Armand Giles was shot several times near the Unity Club in New Castle just after midnight on Sunday. Giles was found lying in the club parking lot and pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say 18-year-old Jerrell Huddleston was also shot and wounded. He remains in critical condition in a Pittsburgh hospital. New Castle police are investigating the shooting.

New Castle is a town in Lawrence County that is about 55 miles north of Pittsburgh.

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/statenews/local_story_364104951.html

Veterinarian’s employee also faces charges

Published December 23, 2008 09:14 am - Connie Fay Glavan, a veterinary technician, also faces charges after her boss was accused of attempting to drug her boyfriend.

ALLEGED DRUGGING: Veterinarian’s employee also faces charges


By Nancy Lowry
New Castle News

Connie Fay Glavan, a veterinary technician, also faces charges after her boss was accused of attempting to drug her boyfriend.

Glavan, 38, of 601 Denny Drive was charged with one count of criminal conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act and with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Court papers filed Friday indicate the charges stem from Glavan’s alleged compliance in providing 50 Adderall capsules to Dr. Cynthia Maro.

Maro, 46, whose veterinary practice is at 728 Lawrence Ave., is charged with criminal conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act; acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, forgery or deception; dispensing, delivery or providing a controlled substance by a practitioner, which is a violation of the controlled substance act; and recklessly endangering another person.

Glavan is employed at Maro’s Ellwood City and Chippewa animal hospitals.

Both women were arraigned Friday morning before District Judge Jerry Cartwright and released on non-monetary bail. Preliminary hearings have been scheduled for Jan. 14 in Lawrence County Central Court.

Narcotics agents with the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Control, who filed the charges, said that in addition to obtaining and providing controlled drugs on Aug. 8 and Sept. 18, Glavan conspired with Maro to unlawfully acquire Adderall, a controlled substance.

Maro is alleged to have tampered with her now ex-boyfriend’s vitamin supplements.

According to the complaint, Maro wrote several prescriptions for Adderall for an employee’s dog, Kaiser. The employee then allegedly filled the prescriptions and gave the drug to Maro.

Adderall is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy in humans and for hyperactivity in animals. It is often used in dog training.

According to the criminal complaint, investigators received an anonymous letter in September alleging possible illegal activities at Maro’s office.

The letter alleged that Maro had prescribed Adderall in the name of Kaiser Glavan, a dog that belongs to Maro’s office manager. The letter stated that Glavan allegedly filled the prescription then gave the drug to Maro, who allegedly added it to herbal supplements taken by her boyfriend.

Court papers said ultimately two prescriptions for Adderall, in the name of the dog, were filled by Glavan and provided to Maro.

Glavan told agents her dog did not receive any of the drugs, and she did not know what use Maro had for them.

On Oct. 2, the complaint said, agents interviewed Maro at the Ellwood City facility. The veterinarian confirmed the Adderall was never intended to be given to Glavan’s dog, the complaint stated, but was given to her son’s dog, Spots, to control its behavior. She allegedly told agents she did not believe it was legal for her to write the prescription in the name of her son’s dog.

After further questioning, she allegedly confessed that “on a few occasions” she mixed small amounts of Adderall with nutritional supplements including protein shakes, consumed by her boyfriend, who had no idea he was ingesting the drug.

She described the boyfriend as “abusive” in their relationship and thought the drug would help her to control his behavior. Agents said she told them her intention was to observe the boyfriend and if his behavior improved, to enlist the aid of his mother to convince him to take Adderall prescribed by a physician.

Following the interview, agents said, Maro voluntarily surrendered her privileges to write prescriptions for controlled substances.

http://www.ncnewsonline.com/topstories/local_story_358091512.html?start:int=0

Couple charged with child abuse

Couple charged with child abuse


New Castle News

A Morris Street couple has been charged with child abuse.

Pennsylvania state police said Lauren Patricia Purdy, 23, of 1935 Morris St. is charged with aggravated and simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Jon William Kulinski, 32, also of 1935 Morris St., was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Police said he kept the child at his house for two days without seeking any type of medical treatment for him.

Police said both were arrested yesterday after a warrant was issued. Both were arraigned before District Judge David Rishel. Purdy was lodged in the Lawrence County jail on $10,000 bond. Kulinski was released on $1,000 bond.

Police said the child’s natural mother has been issued full custody of the child.

Police said Kulinski’s 4-year-old son returned from a two-day visit with his father in August when the child’s mother noticed numerous cuts, welts, abrasions, bruises and contusions over the boy’s entire body.

The child’s mother, police said, took her son to Jameson Hospital where he was treated then released. Hospital personnel immediately contacted state police and an investigation ensued.

http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_355082453.html

Police: Local Vet Confesses To Drugging Boyfriend

Police: Local Vet Confesses To Drugging Boyfriend

(KDKA) The drug was prescribed for a dog, but investigators say a local veterinarian confessed to secretly giving it to her boyfriend instead.

Investigators say that Dr. Cynthia Maro, who works at the Ellwood Animal Hospital in Lawrence County, confessed to them that on a few occasions she spiked her boyfriend's protein shakes with the drug.

Authorities say Dr. Maro allegedly asked a veterinary technician to do her a favor, she would write a prescription for the drug, Adderal, in the name of the tech's dog.

Police say the tech, identified as Connie Glaven, would then have the prescription filled and give the capsules to Maro. It allegedly happened twice.

Glaven is now facing a conspiracy charge.

According to court papers, Maro first told investigators that she gave the drug to her son's dog, but later confessed she gave it to her boyfriend.

Officials say she told the investigators who came to visit her that her boyfriend was abusive and she thought it might help control his behavior.

Adderall is prescribed for attention deficit disorder in humans.

Dr. Maro allegedly said she slipped it into her boyfriend's nutritional supplements and protein shakes without him knowing, authorities say.

KDKA's David Highfield reports that Maro is not in jail, but no one answered the door Friday evening when he knocked.

A neighbor told KDKA that Maro is a nice woman.

She is now facing drug charges and a charge of recklessly endangering another person.

http://kdka.com/local/veterinarian.boyfriend.drugged.2.891868.html

Neshannock man sentenced

Published December 12, 2008 09:27 am -

Neshannock man sentenced


New Castle News

A Neshannock Township man was sentenced yesterday to probation and ordered to file as a sexual predator under Megan’s Law.


James Boalick, 83, of 2750 Old Plank Road, was sentenced by Lawrence County Judge J. Craig Cox to serve 18 months probation and to pay costs of supervision to the county’s adult probation office and costs of prosecution.

He is required to register as a sexual predator, to obtain monthly sexual offender counseling and to meet obligations under Megan’s Law. These include registering his current address within 48 hours with the Pennsylvania State Police and verify his address with the police every 90 days.

He also is required to register any change of address and provide police with the name and address of any employment, provide his fingerprints to the police and be photographed by the officers.

Failure to comply with these obligations, Cox said, could result in imprisonment for up to 10 years and $25,000 in fines.

On April 11, Boalick pleaded guilty to indecent assault.

Neshannock Township police charged Boalick on April 27, 2007, with repeatedly touching a 9-year-old girl at his home and other locations.


http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_345094532.html

Reward Offered For Info In New Castle Assault Rifle Shooting

Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect in the Nov. 29 assault rifle shooting in New Castle.Police said Todd Rae Walker, 22, is wanted on charges including attempted homicide and aggravated assault in the shooting of 34-year-old Russell Harris.Harris was allegedly ambushed behind his residence by Walker, who fired 15-20 rounds from an assault rifle, wounding Harris in the chest and stomach.Authorities said Harris remains in critical condition.Police describe Walker as a black male standing 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes, and has a beard. He also walks with a limp.Walker should be considered armed and dangerous and in possession of a 7.62mm x 39mm assault rifle, police said.

Attorney General Corbett announces new criminal charges against Internet predator suspect from Lawrence County

June 26, 2008

Attorney General Corbett announces new criminal charges against Internet predator suspect from Lawrence County

maloni 250x275HARRISBURG - Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced the filing of additional criminal charges against a Lawrence County man - Leroy Maloni, 69, of 3511 State Route 208, Apt. 4, New Wilmington - who was initially arrested by the Attorney General's Child Predator Unit on June 17, 2008.

Corbett said the new criminal charges filed today in Lawrence County allege that Maloni used Internet chat rooms to contact and sexually proposition an undercover agent from the New York State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Maloni allegedly expressed a desire to travel to Albany, NY, in order to engage in sexual activity with what he believed was a 13-year old girl.

Corbett explained that authorities in New York anticipated the meeting would occur on June 23rd, but Maloni was unable to travel to Albany on that date because he had been arrested six days earlier, in Canonsburg, Washington County, by agents from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Child Predator Unit.

Corbett noted that the Pennsylvania and New York cases are extremely similar - in both cases Maloni is accused of using the Internet to approach and sexually proposition what he believed were 13-year old girls. He is also accused of describing in graphic detail the sex acts he wished to engage in.

Corbett said that criminal charges related to both the Pennsylvania and New York cases involving Maloni have been consolidated in Lawrence County.

Maloni is now charged with two counts of attempted unlawful contact with a minor and two counts of solicitation to commit unlawful contact with a minor, all first-degree felonies which are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $25,000 fines.

Additionally, Maloni is charged with two counts of unlawful contact with a minor (related to sexual offenses), a second-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 fines, along with four counts of unlawful contact with a minor (obscene or sexual performance) and three counts of criminal use of a computer, all third-degree felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 fines.

Maloni was preliminarily arraigned today on all charges before New Castle Magisterial District Judge Scott McGrath. Bail was set at $10,000 straight. Maloni is prohibited from using the Internet or leaving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania without prior court permission. He was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and is prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with minors.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 3rd, at 9:30 a.m., in Lawrence County Central Court.

Corbett said that Maloni is the 147th Internet predator to be arrested in Pennsylvania by the Attorney General's Child Predator Unit.

(A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.)

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=3737

Jury acquits woman of all assault charges

The verdict reflected
reasonable doubt, the jury foreman said.

By JEANNE STARMACK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

NEW CASTLE — A woman who was charged with aggravated and simple assault after a struggle with a man who’s now the Lawrence County treasurer was acquitted on both charges Friday.

Jury foreman Joe Donofrio of New Castle said the jury believed there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Fawn Cox, 28, of New Castle intended to harm Richard L. Rapone.

City police charged Cox after an altercation that happened outside her apartment at Westview Terrace on Beech Street on Oct. 26, 2006. Her trial began Thursday in county common pleas court after she could not agree earlier in the week to a lesser charge of harassment.

Rapone, who became county treasurer in January, was still at work at his old job as a collections agent for Pennsylvania Power’s Mill Street office in New Castle. He was at Cox’s apartment that day to shut off her power because she hadn’t paid her bill.

After Rapone turned off the power, he and Cox struggled in his car in the apartment complex parking lot.

In Pennsylvania, utility workers get the same protection as a police officer or jail guard under the assault laws. Police were able to charge Cox with the most serious of the assault charges, aggravated assault, after Rapone reported the altercation.

That charge and the charge of simple assault were too serious to apply to the situation, Cox’s attorney, public defender Harry Falls, had argued. He told the jury assembled in the courtroom of Judge Thomas Piccione that the altercation happened outside the scope of Rapone’s duties — he had shut off the power and was in his car getting ready to leave. He also argued that Cox never intended to harm Rapone, and that the struggle was mutual.

Cox testified that she had reached into Rapone’s car to shut off the ignition because she didn’t want him to leave before talking to a Penn Power representative who was on the phone in her apartment. She had been trying to arrange payment with the company when Rapone went to her meter and shut off her power, she testified.

She also testified that during his visit to her apartment, Rapone was rude and appeared not to care when she told him her 7-year-old daughter uses a breathing machine each night because of asthma. The machine requires electricity.

She said Penn Power told her on the phone that her electricity should not be shut off because of the girl’s need for the machine.

She said that when she tried to tell Rapone about her daughter’s asthma, he told her: “That sounds like a personal problem.”

Rapone testified that he was not rude, that he behaved in a professional manner throughout the visit and remained calm, even when Cox leaned into his car and the struggle began. He testifed that it was Cox, not him, who was verbally abusive throughout his visit to her apartment. He testified that at the car, she repeatedly hit and scratched him.

Judge Piccione told the jury that they had to consider whether there was evidence Cox had intended to harm Rapone as they were weighing each charge against her.

Donofrio said the verdict “came down to reasonable doubt.”

“There was not enough evidence she intended to harm [Rapone],” he said.

He said the jury saw evidence of scratches on Rapone in a photograph a police officer took of him after the altercation. He said they saw evidence in the photo that there might have been some bruising on his chin, but: “We couldn’t tell if it was serious.”

The jury believed Cox reached into Rapone’s car, Donofrio said, but both parties were defensive. “He pushed and she pushed,” he said.

Rapone did not go to a hospital after the altercation. He testified he went back to the Penn Power office and treated himself with a first aid kit, then called police.

Penn Power restored Cox’s power the same day he shut it off because of the daughter’s need for the breathing machine.

Lawrence Co. Woman Arrested for Robberies

January 14, 2008



NEW CASTLE, Lawrence County-- State Police say they arrested a woman suspected of pulling off two area robberies this month. Troopers say 40-year old Betty Joe Buteria of Edinburg faces robbery charges for allegedly holding up a bank and convenience store. They took her into custody on Tuesday-- one day after releasing security camera video of one of the robberies.

Police say Buteria is the woman in the security video at the Tic Toc Mart in North Beaver Township robbed on New Year's Day. They say she also is the suspect wanted in the First Merit Bank robbery in Union Township last Saturday.

http://media.www.wcn247.com/media/storage/paper1389/news/2009/01/15/CommunityNews/Lawrence.Co.Woman.Arrested.For.Robberies-3587012.shtml