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City faces two suits over rental fees

Published June 30, 2009 08:45 am -

City faces two suits over rental fees


By John K. Manna
New Castle News

Two lawsuits have been filed against the city of New Castle, challenging an ordinance dealing with registration of rental properties.


One suit was filed by the Apartment Association of Lawrence County and the other by Vista South, which has a 99-unit building on the city’s South Side. Both suits were filed in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.

The ordinance, adopted by city council in 1998, requires owners of rental properties to register the units and obtain a permit to lease them. Registration fees on each unit are required and units must pass an inspection.

A press release issued by the association contends that city code enforcement officers are given ’unlimited power to grant or deny permits’ and that property owners are ’being subjected to arbitrary determinations regarding their inspections as well as the severity of the violations.’

The association, represented by attorney Bradley Dornish of Pittsburgh, is asking the court to require an accounting of city overhead costs and fee collections, and grant reimbursement to the property owners for the amount in excess of the overhead costs.

It says in its suit that there is no evidence that the fees are necessary to support the provisions of the ordinance. It adds that if the license fee generates more than the cost to administer the license, the fee would become a tax revenue. The lawsuit alleges that if it is a tax revenue, then it is a violation of state law because the power of taxation lies solely with the Legislature.

The lawsuit also is seeking the ordinance to be declared unconstitutional and to permanently prohibit the city from enforcing the ordinance.

The press release noted the association’s attorneys have filed similar lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of landlord registration ordinances in Pittsburgh, Uniontown and Connellsville.

Attorney James Manolis, who represents Vista South, drew up the ordinance when he was city solicitor. However, his lawsuit, filed Monday, disputes the fee increase approved by council a few years ago when he was no longer solicitor.

Under the original ordinance, the city charged an inspection fee of $30 for up to three units and $10 for each additional unit in an apartment building, payable every two years. Council amended it a few years ago, increasing the fee to $100 per unit, also payable every two years.

With the original fee schedule, Vista South’s total cost was $990. Under the amended ordinance, the fee would be $9,900, Manolis said.

’It’s our position that that’s an unlawful fee,’ he said. ’The charges are way above what they need to run the program.’

The lawsuit wants the court to prevent the city from collecting the fee.

It also contends that the city is in violation of the equal protection clause of the Pennsylvania and U.S. constitutions. Manolis said the city only inspects certain types of units and is selective in its enforcement. Units owned by non-profit agencies, he said, are not inspected.

He said the ordinance makes no distinction.

City solicitor Michael Bonner declined to comment Friday.


He said he had not yet seen the apartment association’s lawsuit, which was filed Thursday.

Ellwood rental laws unaffected by New Castle ruling

Ellwood rental laws
unaffected by
New Castle ruling
NEW CASTLE - A lawsuit contesting New Castle's rental property registry ordinance is unlikely to affect a similar regulation in Ellwood City, borough manager Dom Viccari said.


The Apartment Association of Lawrence County, representing New Castle rental property owners, filed a lawsuit Thursday in county court against the City of New Castle, alleging that the city's rental registry ordinance poses an unfair burden on landlords.

Pittsburgh attorney Bradley Dornish, who represents the association, was unavailable for comment Friday.

Court documents filed Thursday by the association claim that a provision in the New Castle ordinance, passed in 1998, is too broad and vague. The provision requires a permit, with a fee, even for properties that are not occupied.

The association also contests the fee charged by the city - which varies depending on the number of units and type of rental property - amounts to an illegal tax because only the state government can levy taxes or delegate that authority to local governments.

According to the lawsuit, the state constitution allows local and county governments to collect fees equal to the costs of carrying out the service in question. Any amount in excess of that is an illegal tax, unless the state government gives its approval.

After reading the court filing Friday, Viccari said he thinks the fee was the central issue in the association's lawsuit. Ellwood City's rental registry ordinance, which was established in 1997, has no fee-collecting provision.

Ellwood City's registry is intended solely to establish a database of rental property owners, which enables borough officials to collect outstanding electric and sewer bills and to charge absentee landlords for cleanup or destruction of dilapidated properties, Viccari said.

According to a news release issued Friday by the apartment association, Dornish, of the law firm of Dornish & Scolieri, plans lawsuits against Pittsburgh, and Uniontown and Connellsville in Fayette County on similar grounds.

The firm has planned no action against Ellwood City.

Eric Poole can be reached online at epoole@ellwoodcityledger.com.

Invaded at gunpoint

ELLWOOD CITY -Lindsay Ostrom spent most of Wednesday painting a room, so she sent her three young children to her mother's house to keep them away from the fumes.

That decision protected the children, all younger than 7, from two gunmen who broke into Ostrom's Ellwood City home at 825 Pershing St just after 10 p.m. Wednesday.

"They just started pointing guns and saying, 'Give us everything,' " Ostrom said.

As of Thursday evening, no arrests had been made in the incident, but borough police said they were tracing a gun that was recovered near Ostrom's home.

Ostrom said two men were black, one wearing a tossel cap pulled over his face with a hole cut for his eyes. She said the second man was wearing a head scarf over his hair and a bandanna around the lower part of his face.

Police said they believe the gun was stolen and that investigators tracing the weapon, hoping it will help identify the invaders.

"We're looking into several leads," said patrolman John Lubich.

At least one gunshot was fired during the incident. Police found a shell casing outside the home.

Terrance Shelby, Lindsay Ostrom's boyfriend, said he was the target of that gunshot. As the two men entered Ostrom's home through the back door, Shelby picked up a young child who was also in the home and tried to run out of the house, but she slipped from his grasp.

Shelby then ran out of the house toward Ellwood City Hospital one block away. As he was running, he said one of the men shot at him.

"I knew if I stopped, I'd have gotten hurt," he said. "I heard a bullet whip past my head."

Police said the two invaders took an undisclosed amount of money, which Ostrom said might have been the motive for the break-in. One of her visitors, a friend of the couple, had received some money from a relative who was awarded several thousand dollars in a lawsuit.

Ostrom said people in the nearby Walnut Ridge public housing development might have known that the friend had a large amount of money.

While the gunmen were in the house, Ostrom's brother Donald said he was trapped in the bathroom. Donald Ostrom said he heard his sister screaming and tried to rush downstairs, when the bathroom door jammed.

By the time he got through the door, Donald Ostrom said, the two gunmen were gone and he called police.

Donald Ostrom said, at police request, everyone involved
gave statements.

Lindsay Ostrom and Shelby said police asked them to have their hands tested for gunshot residue. When Donald Ostrom asked why they wanted to test him, he said officers said he might have been involved.

Lt. Dave Kingston, the police department's ranking officer, said the tests were standard procedure and that officers couldn't rule out any suspects.

Kingston cited recent history to justify investigating victims. Last March, officers were suspicious of a robbery at the Uni-Mart convenience store on Beaver Avenue. In that incident, the clerk said he had been robbed by two black gunmen.

After a six-hour investigation, police charged the clerk in the robbery. At the time, Kingston said the clerk's narrative of the incident contained too many
inconsistencies.

http://ellwoodcityledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20336944&BRD=2724&PAG=461&dept_id=563781&rfi=6

©Ellwood City Ledger 2009

Fire Consumes New Castle Pallet Recycler

Fire Consumes New Castle Pallet Recycler

Posted: 12:43 pm EDT June 23, 2009Updated: 3:14 pm EDT June 23, 2009

Lawrence County 911 said a New Castle business was consumed by flames Tuesday afternoon.The fire started at Custom Pallet Recycler at 1799 County Line Road in Hickory Township shortly after 11 a.m.Firefighters said the blaze consumed the building, which is a total loss.There are no reports of any injuries.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/19834441/detail.html

Hearing for Yerage rescheduled

Published June 20, 2009 09:17 am -

Hearing for Yerage rescheduled


New Castle News

A preliminary hearing for New Castle School Board member Peter Yerage has been continued.


Yerage, 65, of Warren Avenue, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor. State police filed the charges after a truck, in which Yerage was a passenger, had been pulled over and the vehicle was inspected.

Officers said they had located a pill bottle with methadone and oxycodone. The bottle, which was in a bag with toiletry items, was found on the passenger’s side floor, according to the police report.

A continuance was granted because Yerage’s attorney, Paul Lynch, is out of town. The new hearing date is July 15.

http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_170104900.html

Club faces liquor law charges

Published June 18, 2009 08:34 am -

Club faces liquor law charges


New Castle News

A Hillsville club has been charged with several violations of Pennsylvania’s Liquor Code.


According to the Erie office of the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Johnson Club on Church Hill Road in Mahoning Township sold alcoholic beverages to nonmembers on July 8, 2008, and allowed various gambling-related activities to take place on its premises not only on that same date, but on four others as well.

The enforcement office alleges that on July 8, Sept. 10, Oct. 9 and Nov. 20, 2008, and again on Jan. 23 of this year, the Johnson Club possessed or operated gambling devices or paraphernalia or permitted gambling or lotteries, poolselling and/or bookmaking on its licensed premises.

On Dec. 20, the office alleged, the club also used funds derived from the operation of games of chance for purposes other than those authorized by law.

The charges will be brought before an administrative law judge, who can impose penalties ranging from $50 to $1,00 for minor offenses or up to $5,000 for major ones. Depending upon the severity of the charge, the judge also can impose a license suspension or revocation.

COURTS: Veterinarian gets OK for ARD program

COURTS: Veterinarian gets OK for ARD program



The Ellwood City veterinarian charged with attempting to drug her ex-boyfriend has entered the accelerated rehabilitative disposition program.

Dr. Cynthia Maro, 46, whose practice is at 728 Lawrence Ave., was admitted to the program Wednesday by Lawrence County Judge J .Craig Cox. She was ordered to pay costs of prosecution and supervisory fees to the Lawrence County Adult Probation Office and serve 12 months probation.

She was 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; and recklessly endangering another person.

According to court papers, Maro attempted to drug her ex-boyfriend with Adderall, a controlled substance. In humans, Adderall is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In animals the drug is used to control hyperactivity and is used in dog training.

A codefendant, Connie Fay Glavan, 38, of Denny Drive, a veterinary technician in Maro’s office, entered the ARD program June 2. She too was ordered to pay costs of prosecution and 12 months probation. She had been charged with one count of criminal conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

The ARD program provides an alternative to a criminal conviction. A defendant must apply for the program. The request is reviewed by the district attorney’s office, which considers the defendant’s background, the nature of the offense and effects on the victims before recommending approval of the request to the courts.

Upon satisfactory completion of the program, the defendant may apply to the court to request that charges be dismissed and the record be cleared.

http://www.ncnewsonline.com/topstories/local_story_162102804.html

Man charged in burglary

Man charged in burglary



An Ellwood City man faces a preliminary hearing Tuesday on burglary charges.


Borough police said they responded at 12:02 a.m. May 30 to a report of a burglary in progress at 405 Wayne Ave. and that, upon arrival, they saw Timothy Stiles, 30, jumping out a second-floor window.

Stiles was apprehended and placed in Lawrence County jail, where he posted $15,000 bond.

Stiles, who last known address is 315 Morrison Ave., was charged with burglary, criminal conspiracy, possessing instruments of crime, possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal trespass.

Renee Michelle Burnworth, 30, of Ellwood City faces two counts of criminal conspiracy in relationship to the case.


http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_161070650.html

Ellwood man charged in shower theft

NEW LOCAL: Ellwood man charged in shower theft



A West North Street woman got clean — and cleaned out — in the course of taking a shower.


Reaching for a towel, the woman discovered a gun aimed at her face.

According to New Castle police, Robert Shawn Carder, 21, of Ellwood City entered her home Tuesday. Carder reportedly demanded $800 that she had in her possession.

Carder reportedly told her if she didn’t hand over the cash, he would shoot her.

The 23-year-old woman gave the money to Carder. He fled on foot toward Westview Terrace Apartments.

The woman told police Carder used to stay at her home and returned occasionally.

Police later apprehended Carder, who lives at 424 Lawrence Ave., Apartment 1. He faces three felony charges of robbery, prohibited possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm without a license. He also is charged with three misdemeanors: terroristic threats, theft and recklessly endangering another person.

Carder is in the Lawrence County jail on a $10,000 bond.

His preliminary hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. June 17 before District Judge Melissa A. Amodie.


http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_162102021.html

Hearing set on boy’s lawyers’ request

July 2 has been set to hear a pretrial motion filed by attorneys for 11-year-old Jordan Brown.


Jordan, of 1146 Wampum-New Galilee Road, is charged as an adult following the Feb. 20 death of his father’s pregnant fiancĂ©e, Kenzie Marie Houk, 26. Police said he used a 20-gauge shotgun to shoot her in the back of the head as she lay in bed. He faces two counts of homicide.

On Friday, attorneys David Acker and Dennis Elisco filed court papers asking that charges against the boy be dismissed, stating that no evidence presented at the March 24 preliminary hearing links Jordan to the killings.

Jordan entered a not guilty plea on May 6.

The hearing to address their concerns is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Courtroom No. 1. The order setting the hearing date was signed Tuesday by Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Piccione.

Bank Robber Sentenced

Bank robber sentenced



A man who robbed a Lawrence County bank five years ago will serve 15 years in jail.


William F. Perry, 64, of North Versailles, Allegheny County, also was ordered Monday by a federal court judge in Pittsburgh to serve five years of probation following his release from prison.

Perry was charged with nine bank robberies between 2004 and 2006. On Jan. 2, 2004, prosecutors said, he used a replica firearm to rob the ESB bank at 1793 Mercer Road, Ellwood City.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Pittsburgh said Perry also robbed a Huntingdon County bank three times in 2004; a Washington County bank twice in 2004; a Westmoreland county bank twice in 2006; and a New Cumberland, W.Va., bank in 2005.

Perry was indicted in 2007 after an investigation by the FBI. He could have received a maximum of 225 years in prison.


http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_161071155.html

NEW LOCAL: Fight ends in teen’s arrest

NEW LOCAL: Fight ends in teen’s arrest



Obscenities were flying along with a few fists.


A crowd of juveniles gathered Tuesday morning at the intersection of Wallace Avenue and Reis Street, where several fights were erupting near New Castle High School.

City police were called at 10:45 a.m. to disperse the crowd. That’s when Jamal C. Murphy, 18, of 123 Park Ave. reportedly stepped forward with a few choice words for the officers.

Murphy ignored the officers’ commands and was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct.

During a search of Murphy’s backpack, police discovered a pair of metal knuckles, a bottle of Grey Goose vodka, a BB gun and a VISA card belonging to another individual. The knuckles, vodka and credit card were place into evidence, while the BB gun was destroyed by the officers.

Murphy also is charged with a first-degree misdemeanor of carrying a prohibited offensive weapon and two summary offenses of disorderly conduct and purchase of an alcoholic beverage by a minor.

His preliminary hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. June 17 before District Judge Melissa A. Amodie.

49 registered sex offenders living in New Castle in early 2007

According to our research of the Pennsylvania and other state lists there were 49 registered sex offenders living in New Castle in early 2007.
The ratio of number of residents in New Castle to the number of sex offenders is 498 to 1.

Kreitzman, Allen
Address: 729 East Pearl St
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Rape-1st Degree
Sex: Male
Date of birth: 1962-04-20
Eye color: Brown
Hair color: Brown
Height: 5'11
Weight: 170 lbs.
Race: White
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Ezzo, Philip James
Address: 142 Leeper Drive
Zip code: 16102
Crime: Sexual Abuse Of Children
Date of birth: 1981-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Heaney, Walter Leroy
Address: 1401 Wilson Avenue
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Rape
Date of birth: 1964-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Alexander, Moses
Address: 332 Halco Drive
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Oh006 - Rape
Date of birth: 1954-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Altland, Michael Damian
Address: 1211 East Brook Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Aggravated Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1972-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Baker, Patterson John
Address: 725 Paul Street Haven Convalescent Home
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Rape
Date of birth: 1923-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Book, Mont Raymond
Address: 517 Marlboro Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1959-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Burton, Mark
Address: 708 Brooklyn Avenue
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1968-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Carter, William Lee
Address: 219 North Scott Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: In002 - Child Molestation
Date of birth: 1960-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Flick, Robert Eugene
Address: Lawrence County Prison 111 South Milton Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1978-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Foster, Joshua Edward
Address: 327 Crescent Avenue Third Floor
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1976-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Gabbert, Lester Edgar
Address: 938 Morton Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Aggravated Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1961-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Haney, William Anthony
Address: 1108 Wilmington Ave
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Aggravated Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1937-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Huff, Edward Gerard
Address: 1120 Crowe Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1947-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Kramer, Adam Jon
Address: 234 Ashberry Lane Apartment 135
Zip code: 16105
Crime: Wv007 - 2nd Degree Sexual Abuse
Date of birth: 1983-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Kumrow, Robert John
Address: 1226 Finch St
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1969-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Lawson, Sheridan Absalum
Address: 414 Garfield Avenue
Zip code: 16101
Crime: /3123 - Attempted Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse
Date of birth: 1944-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Lewis, John Arthur
Address: 1147 Pin Oak Blvd Apt 2a
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Oh004 - Gross Sexual Imposition
Date of birth: 1963-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Mason, Carl Terry
Address: 1116 South Mercer Street Apt. 517
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1938-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Massey, Craig Clinton
Address: 459 East Long Avenue
Zip code: 16510
Crime: Tx010 - Sexual Assault Of Child
Date of birth: 1972-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Mccool, William Charles Samuel Sr
Address: 234 East Leasure Avenue
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Fl020 - Attempted Sexual Battery By Adult Victim Under 12
Date of birth: 1942-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Pounds, David Eugene
Address: 136 Elmwood Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Aggravated Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1983-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Reardon, Timothy Daniel
Address: 1711 East Washington Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Fl013 - Lewd & Lascivious Of A Child Under 16
Date of birth: 1948-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Rose, Richard Dean
Address: 5 East Wallace Avenue Apartment 106
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Oh008 - Unlawful Sexual Contact
Date of birth: 1983-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Savage, Xavier Roland
Address: 319 South Croton Avenue
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Rape
Date of birth: 1961-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Schleich, Robert J
Address: Lawrence County Prison 111 South Milton Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Sexual Abuse Of Children
Date of birth: 1962-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Shartzer, Donald Eugene
Address: 906 Marshall Avenue Apartment 6
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Sexual Abuse Of Children
Date of birth: 1942-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Silvis, Earl William
Address: 722 Court Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse
Date of birth: 1975-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Smith, Larry Edward
Address: 325 Harding Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1947-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Stoner, Ryan Levi
Address: 1620 Harlansburg Road
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Us036 Possession Of Pornography Involving A Minor
Date of birth: 1979-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Toney, Lawrence Edward
Address: 608 Centennial Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Ca002 - Lewd/lascivious W/child
Date of birth: 1949-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Treverton, Richard Joseph
Address: New Castle Rescue Mission 319 South Croton Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1961-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Turner, Benjamin
Address: 205 North Mercer Street 3rd Floor
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Rape
Date of birth: 1956-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Vocature, Thomas E
Address: Lawrence County Prison 111 South Milton Street
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Aggravated Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1957-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Wall, James Jennins
Address: 717 North Mercer Street Apartment 3
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse
Date of birth: 1957-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Welch, Robert
Address: 708 N Cedar Street
Zip code: 16102
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1955-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

White, Stephen Paul
Address: 206 North Crawford Avenue
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse
Date of birth: 1974-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Williams, Stan Junior
Address: 319 South Croton Avenue
Zip code: 16101
Crime: Il005 - Aggravated Sexual Criminal Abuse
Date of birth: 1963-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Browning, Jerry Lee
Address: 611 North Cedar Street
Zip code: 16102
Crime: Va010 - Carnal Knowledge Child 13-15
Date of birth: 1969-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Feliciano, Robert
Address: 219 Rear Liberty Street Apt. #b
Zip code: 16102
Crime: Rape
Date of birth: 1962-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Phillips, James Franklin
Address: 7 Darlington Avenue Apartment 1
Zip code: 16102
Crime: Fl007 - Lewd/lascivious Assault- Child
Date of birth: 1961-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Ridenbaugh, George Matthew
Address: 108 1/2 East Wabash Ave.
Zip code: 16102
Crime: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse
Date of birth: 1951-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Dzuriak, George Michael
Address: 319 Croton Avenue
Zip code: 16103
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1949-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Mason, Tina Maria
Address: 129 East Moody Avenue P.o. Box 778
Zip code: 16103
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1958-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Davies, James Leroy
Address: 156 Neshannock Trails Drive
Zip code: 16105
Crime: Az002 - Sexual Abuse
Date of birth: 1959-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Hardesty, Jeffrey Dana
Address: 3108 Wild Grape Road
Zip code: 16105
Crime: Aggravated Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1964-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Kreitzman, Allen Charles
Address: 440 Falls Avenue
Zip code: 16105
Crime: Ny007 - Rape
Date of birth: 1962-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Norris, Robert John
Address: 231 Cathcart Drive
Zip code: 16105
Crime: Indecent Assault
Date of birth: 1986-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page

Sansone, Mark Alexander
Address: 115 Englewood Ave
Zip code: 16105
Crime: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse
Date of birth: 1956-01-01
Based on this official Pennsylvania offender page


No representation is made that the persons listed here are currently on the state's sex offenders registry. All names presented here were gathered at a past date. Some persons listed might no longer be registered sex offenders and others might have been added. Some addresses or other data might no longer be current. Owners of City-data.com assume no responsibility (and expressly disclaim responsibility) for updating this site to keep information current or to ensure the accuracy or completeness of any posted information. Accordingly, you should confirm the accuracy and completeness of all posted information before making any decision related to any data presented on this site.


http://www.city-data.com/so/so-New-Castle-Pennsylvania.html

Readers Story

What gives a judge the power to deny a PFA when the defendant is caught in lies on the witness stands, what causes the New Castle, Family Court Judge to over look the lies in the testimony that proves he is lying? How can a judge in good mind deny a PFA for a family when the defendant’s witnesses can’t even keep their stories straight when on the stand?

When these lies are called out in a public light by the petitioner’s attorney and the defendants adds in another lie which is also caught how can a judge not see this?

How can a judge ignore the testimony of children who told basically the same stories (because they were not lying). Why put the children through it if you were not going to hear their cries? How can you look a child in the eye and say I know there is truth here but I am still not going to rule in your favor, Will this still family court judge come to my house to wipe the tears off my children’s face, or will he stay up with them in the middle of the night and rock them back to sleep in his arms when they wake up screaming from another nightmare.

With all the provable fact you still made your choice on based on “nothing” case laws, laws, etc, were quoted to you to make sure you would rule in the favor of who was not lying, who came to your court begging for protection, yet you turned your back on it all and ruled based on something we have no clue.

You Mr. Family Court Judge have stunned everyone, the attorney, the petitioners, the women’s shelter, the other people who where around. Everyone thought you had no choice but to rule in the favor of what was presented to you, the right, lawful way to rule.

One day Judge I will be back in your court room, probably with something devastating that has happened and I plan to remind you that it would have all been preventable had you just ruled in our favor that day. You could have been the tool to stop all this for my family. I just pray the reason I stand before you in the future is not something that is so devastating that you will have no choice, or that its not criminal court I stand in begging them to jail him for life.

My family will never forget you for they cried the day your ruling was told to us. You have permitted a dangerous person to be allowed into our lives, you have given him the golden pathway to harass, stalk, and trespass.

Firefighters Suffer Minor Injuries Battling Lawrence Co. Blaze

Firefighters Suffer Minor Injuries Battling Lawrence Co. Blaze

Posted: 7:01 am EDT June 5, 2009Updated: 1:15 pm EDT June 5, 2009

Two firefighters were injured while fighting a blaze in Lawrence County Thursday night.The fire started just at about 9 p.m. in the garage of a home in the 300 block of Fairground Road in Hickory Township.The injured firefighters were taken to the hospital. One of them was treated for an injured hand. Officials did not release the other firefighter's injury, but they did say it was minor.Both are expected to recover.The fire is under investigation.

New Castle Officer Accused Of Sex, Drinking With Girls

A New Castle police officer is accused of giving liquor shots to two teenage girls and having sex with them at his house in Union Township, Lawrence County.Officer Richard Corbin, 35, is charged with statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, furnishing alcohol to minors and corruption of minors. His case was sent to trial after a preliminary hearing Tuesday. The trial date has not been set.State police arrested Corbin in July. They said the teens came forward with their claims in May, but the alleged assaults took place in January, when Corbin’s duties involved patrolling New Castle Junior/Senior High School.According to a criminal complaint, the girls, ages 13 and 15 at the time, were on their way to a club when they were approached by Corbin in a personal car.Corbin, a member of the force for nearly 10 years, allegedly offered the girls a ride and began touching and taking pictures of them with his cell phone once they were inside the car, police said.The girls said they went back to Corbin’s home, where they drank seven to eight shots and had sex with the officer.“The New Castle Police Department takes these matters seriously. We must reserve comment at this time pending the outcome of a court process,” said New Castle Police Chief Tom Sansone.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/lawrence/17050508/detail.html

Domestic Violence & Drunk Drivers

If there was no corruption in our court houses what has prompted someone to create a website like this? What goes on in our county that PFA’s that should be awarded get denied, ones that should be denied get awarded?

http://users.myepath.com/together/

Welcome to Corruption in Lawrence County, PA.

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Man acquitted in slaying

Published: Thu, June 4, 2009 @ 12:05 a.m.

By Jeanne Starmack

The victim had been beaten to death with a bar stool in his basement.

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Michael Roberts, 29, was acquitted Wednesday of criminal homicide, aggravated assault and simple assault in the death of Danny Palumbo, 48, who was beaten to death with a bar stool in the basement of his East Long Avenue home in the city March 25, 2005.

Palumbo was found on the floor by his 14-year-old daughter. He died the next day at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown with head injuries so bad the New Castle police officer who first saw him assumed he’d been shot in the face at point-blank range.

Police arrested Roberts in the killing about 14 months later after he was implicated in the crime. Two men testified during the seven-day-long trial in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court that Roberts had admitted to them he killed Palumbo — one of those men said Roberts indicated he’d used the bar stool to do it, which was information the police had held back from the media.

But Roberts’ defense attorney, Lee Rothman of Pittsburgh, pointed out that the witnesses had received deals for reduced jail sentences in exchange for testimony that implicated Roberts.

He told the jury there was no way it could be certain beyond a reasonable doubt that those witnesses were credible.

He also said that even though the media didn’t know about the bar stool, it was not a secret. “It was all over the streets,” said Rothman, who also pointed out that it was likely every police officer in the New Castle department knew about it.

Palumbo, who had prescriptions for OxyContin, sold it to a few trusted middlemen who in turn supplied other customers. One of those middlemen, a former New Castle resident, Johnny Carson, testified he got the drug from Palumbo for Roberts.

Investigators had alleged the motive for the murder was robbery — the killer wanted Palumbo’s OxyContin.

Rothman said, however, that there was another man who had talked to Carson about robbing Palumbo a few days before his death.

There was never any physical evidence linking Roberts to the crime, he pointed out.

In fact, DNA found on the bar stool matched Palumbo and one other person who was never identified.

Rothman also pointed out that Roberts had an alibi — he was asleep on the couch at the home where he was staying on Chestnut Street.

He gave the names of three people who could corroborate his story, but the detective investigating the case did not make much of an effort to track down one of those people, Rothman argued.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/jun/04/man-acquitted-in-slaying/