February 18, 2009
NEW CASTLE, Lawrence County-- Two Lawrence County men will face charges alleging they ran a party house near New Castle High School where they gave kids drugs and alcohol and had sex with them.
Daniel Donnelly and Michael Washington are accused of luring boys and girls as young as 11 into a house two blocks away from the high school for more than a year. Police started investigating after one of the victims came forward reporting she had been raped.
A district justice ordered Donnelly and Washington held for court. The charges include sexual assault and giving minors with drugs and alcohol. They both remain in the county jail pending bond.
http://media.www.wcn247.com/media/storage/paper1389/news/2009/02/15/CommunityNews/Party.House.Allegations.Lead.To.Sex.Crimes.Case-3638288.shtml
First Choice Federal Credit Union warns members of multiple scam methods
February 9, 2009
NEW CASTLE, Lawrence County--State police say a credit card scam in Lawrence County is now even more sophisticated as online theives target customers of the First Choice Federal Credit Union. Investigators say the scam artists are using a bogus message online, by text and on the phone.
On Friday, members of the credit union in New Castle received text messages telling them that a third party has accessed their account. The message advises members to go to a web site, which asks for personal account information.
CEO of First Choice Federal Credit Union Marilyn Wehr says the web site is a hoax and that members should disregard the message. The scam artists are using a phony web address is FirstChoiceFCU.net, whereas the credit union's real web address is FirstChoiceFCU.com.
"They had copied our web site, taken our logo, and everything on the site was fraudulent," Wehr said, "They had purchased the domain."
The FBI has now joined the investigation, and according to Wehr, the fake web site is based in Portugal.
With the help of the FBI, the credit union has now shut down the fake web site.
Members of the credit union are reminded to disregard any phone calls or text messages that ask for personal account information.
http://media.www.wcn247.com/media/storage/paper1389/news/2009/02/09/CommunityNews/Slick.Thieves.Continue.Credit.Union.Scam-3620260.shtml
First Choice Federal Credit Union warns members of multiple scam methods
Shayna Marti
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: Community News
NEW CASTLE, Lawrence County--State police say a credit card scam in Lawrence County is now even more sophisticated as online theives target customers of the First Choice Federal Credit Union. Investigators say the scam artists are using a bogus message online, by text and on the phone.
On Friday, members of the credit union in New Castle received text messages telling them that a third party has accessed their account. The message advises members to go to a web site, which asks for personal account information.
CEO of First Choice Federal Credit Union Marilyn Wehr says the web site is a hoax and that members should disregard the message. The scam artists are using a phony web address is FirstChoiceFCU.net, whereas the credit union's real web address is FirstChoiceFCU.com.
"They had copied our web site, taken our logo, and everything on the site was fraudulent," Wehr said, "They had purchased the domain."
The FBI has now joined the investigation, and according to Wehr, the fake web site is based in Portugal.
With the help of the FBI, the credit union has now shut down the fake web site.
Members of the credit union are reminded to disregard any phone calls or text messages that ask for personal account information.
http://media.www.wcn247.com/media/storage/paper1389/news/2009/02/09/CommunityNews/Slick.Thieves.Continue.Credit.Union.Scam-3620260.shtml
Ex-parking head accused of stealing from Pa. city
(02-05) 12:00 PST New Castle, Pa. (AP) --
A former parking official in a financially troubled Pennsylvania city is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from parking meters.
Gary Stone Jr. was laid off last year as head of New Castle's parking authority. He was arraigned Thursday on theft charges.
County officials say the 33-year-old New Castle resident reported that the meters collected $342 for all of 2006 and 2007. When police took over the meter collections for the first time last year, they took in more than $54,000.
Stone's home telephone is unlisted and he has not returned a message left with relatives.
New Castle was declared financially distressed last year under a state law designed to help struggling communities. The declaration led to Stone's layoff.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/02/05/national/a120052S23.DTL
Two indicted in PA fraud allegations
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 12:56PM
In the following press release (page 3) Mary Beth Buchanan, United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania announced that a grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging Anthony J. Staph Jr., age 42, 132 Firestone Drive, New Castle, Pennsylvania 16105 with Bank Fraud. The indictment alleges that Staph participated in a Bank Fraud Scheme involving Affordable Housing of Lawrence County, Inc. and First Commonwealth Bank.
It is alleged that participants in the bank fraud scheme arranged for Affordable Housing of Lawrence County to purchase seven properties at prices in excess of their fair market values, and that Affordable Housing of Lawrence County applied for a loan from First Commonwealth Bank to purchase the properties.
It is further alleged that Staph prepared fraudulent appraisals of the seven properties that were to serve as collateral for Affordable Housing of Lawrence County’s loan from First Commonwealth Bank. It is alleged that the appraisals were fraudulent in that they overstated the fair market value of the properties, misrepresented the condition of the properties, and falsely represented that the properties were occupied.
In a separate but related charge, the United States Attorney filed a one-count Information charging Gary F. Felasco, Jr., age 41, of Warren, Pennsylvania with willfully failing to file his 2005 income tax returns.
http://www.mortgagefraud.org/journal/2009/2/4/two-indicted-in-pa-fraud-allegations.html
New Castle man arrested after threats
New Castle man arrested after threats
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
A New Castle man faces a string of charges, including aggravated assault, after he doused a woman's clothing in gasoline, then threatened to ignite and kill her, then burn down his home, state police said yesterday.
Jeffrey Raymond Burkey, 37, then fired a 12-gauge shotgun twice as the 43-year-old woman ran from the house, police said. When Mr. Burkey learned that the woman had called police from her cell phone, he fled in his car, leading troopers on a short chase before his arrest.
Mr. Burkey was charged with reckless endangerment, terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment in the Thursday night attack. He was in the Lawrence County Jail on $100,000 bond.
First published on January 27, 2009 at 12:25 am
New Castle Man Arrested For Purse Snatching
NEW CASTLE (KDKA) - A New Castle man is behind bars today accused in two purse snatching incidents and stealing a car.
Officials say it all started when 36-year-old Robert Hilke allegedly stole a purse from a woman at a Giant Eagle parking lot.
State Police arrested Hilke on Saturday in Lawrence County in a separate incident after he allegedly grabbed Valerie Mayfield's purse out of her shopping cart in a Wal Mart parking lot.
Authorities say he drove off at a high speed that eventually ended in vehicle crash.
Police report that Hilke hit a car at a stop sign at the intersection of West Washington Street and continued speeding until his vehicle went airborne and struck a railroad sign.
Hilke suffered a cut to his face and a female passenger in his car was uninjured.
Charges are pending in the Wal Mart incident and traffic crashes.
http://kdka.com/topstories/New.Castle.Lawrence.2.387004.html
Officials say it all started when 36-year-old Robert Hilke allegedly stole a purse from a woman at a Giant Eagle parking lot.
State Police arrested Hilke on Saturday in Lawrence County in a separate incident after he allegedly grabbed Valerie Mayfield's purse out of her shopping cart in a Wal Mart parking lot.
Authorities say he drove off at a high speed that eventually ended in vehicle crash.
Police report that Hilke hit a car at a stop sign at the intersection of West Washington Street and continued speeding until his vehicle went airborne and struck a railroad sign.
Hilke suffered a cut to his face and a female passenger in his car was uninjured.
Charges are pending in the Wal Mart incident and traffic crashes.
http://kdka.com/topstories/New.Castle.Lawrence.2.387004.html
Woman Accused Of Robbing Lawrence County Bank With Gun
UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A man and a woman suspected of robbing a bank in Union Township, Lawrence County, are in custody, state police at the New Castle barracks said.Betty Jo Buteria, 40, and Gregory Lee Wilmouth, 51, were arraigned Tuesday on robbery charges in connection with a hold-up at First Merit Bank on West State Street. Police said a woman, who they believe is Buteria, showed a black semiautomatic pistol during the robbery Saturday. No injuries were reported.Buteria and Wilmouth, both of Edinburg, are being held on $100,000 bond each.
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/18477166/detail.html
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/18477166/detail.html