Criminal Justice

Authorities on Monday identified the 25-year-old man shot to death early Saturday night at Fountain Park off Martin Luther King Drive in Allentown.

Parkland School District administrator Frank Anonia is the subject of an internal investigation. He was recently deposed in a lawsuit that alleges the district knew another teacher, Christian Willman, was sexually assaulting students but did nothing to stop it.

The victim was shot and died at Fountain Park in the 900 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, authorities said. Police say anyone with information or video regarding the incident should call investigators at 610-437-7721.

Rami Abouloh is set to be sentenced Aug. 13; first-degree-murder convictions in Pennsylvania carry a mandatory life sentence.

Emergency crews worked for more than an hour Tuesday morning near Fourth and Hamilton streets to recover the body of a 60-year-old Allentown man.

A joint enforcement between Pennsylvania State Police and the Allentown Police Department resulted in dozens of traffic citations in just two hours on American Parkway. One driver was going 69 mph in the 40 mph zone, state police said.

U.S. District Judge John Gallagher ruled Marc Muffley, of Lansford, Pa., recklessly endangered passengers at Lehigh Valley International Airport in 2023 when he packed a can of butane, a fireworks mortar, a torch lighter and lithium ion batteries in his baggage.

Northampton County becomes the 30th county in Pennsylvania to adopt the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative, or LETI, which enables those seeking treatment for substance use disorder to contact probation and parole services without fear of criminal charges being filed.

Former Hellertown Police chief Robert Shupp appeared in district court Wednesday to waive his preliminary hearing.

That funding adds to a recent $984,000 contract for “citywide surveillance” and a $1.5 million program for gunshot-detection technology and license-plate readers.

Brenda Rodriguez, 51, of Palmerton is charged with criminal solicitation/criminal homicide and conspiracy-aggravated assault in the shooting death of her husband, Hector Manuel Garcia Gomez, 46, of Palmerton on Dec. 7.

Joshua and Tracy Dechant were charged Sunday with two felony counts each, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said in a release.

Evan Weaver and Jason Krasley were in Lehigh County Court, where their lawyers argued Thursday against Lehigh County prosecutors' motion to revoke their bail.

According to a release, John C. Miles, of Palmerton, Carbon County, has been charged in the incident that took place Monday, Nov. 11, 2024.

The “No Hate in Our State” town hall, organized by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, is scheduled for noon Saturday at POWER Interfaith, 620 Hamilton St.

Federal prosecutors dismissed criminal charges alleging Tighe Scott assaulted police outside the U.S. Capitol Building. The decision stems from President Donald Trump's executive order pardoning more than 1,000 people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and all ongoing dismissing ongoing prosecutions.

Francis Anonia, a former Parkland High School performing arts teacher, was arraigned in Lehigh County Court on Friday morning on charges he used his cell phone multiple times to secretly record a male student in a school changing room in 2022. If found guilty of all 19 charges, he could face up to 88 years in prison.

Join Megan Frank at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. every Friday for Insights with LehighValleyNews.com on WLVR. This week Megan talks to Jason Addy and Phil Gianficaro.

Council on Wednesday introduced a bill to hire a Philadelphia law firm to analyze Allentown's nondiscrimination and personnel policies and end a long-running probe.

Council announced federal investigators’ involvement Wednesday, two days after dozens protested outside City Hall, demanding the FBI to take over the probe into what many have called a hate crime.

The leader of the U.S. Center for SafeSport wrote in an email that the revelation of former Allentown Police investigator Jason Krasley's arrest on rape charges was “just sickening,” while also saying there was no reason to believe he’d committed any wrongdoing while working for the center.

A 62-year-old woman has been arrested in a Northampton County animal cruelty case, state police announced Wednesday.