Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said the officer should be fired.
Pittsburgh Police Detective Frank Rende, whose actions Saturday prompted Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to recommend his firing, plans to be back on the job Tuesday, KDKA TV reports. Detective Frank Rende was recorded Saturday outside the Claddagh Irish Pub on the South Side holding a Taser to Mark Keyser Jr., 27, of Ross Township. Video of the incident was posted on social media the next day. Click here to see it. (Warning: the video contains offensive language.) Rende wrote in a criminal complaint that he held the Taser to Keyser's neck but did not activate it. Rende wrote that Keyser was drunk and fell over into a white plastic fence because he lost his balance, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Ravenstahl made it clear to KDKA that he …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Witnesses videotape the incident and upload the video to YouTube.
Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Monday morning that he intends to fire a police detective involved in a confrontation with a North Hills man over the weekend. "Somebody better give me a pretty good reason as to why he should not be fired," the mayor told the P-G. Detective Frank Rende was recorded Saturday outside the Claddagh Irish Pub on the South Sideholding a Taser to Mark Keyser Jr., 27, of Ross Township. Rende wrote in a criminal complaint that he held the Taser to Keyser's neck but did not activate it. Rende wrote that Keyser was drunk and fell over into a white plastic fence because he lost his balance, the P-G reported. Video of the incident was posted on social media the next day. Click here to …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Mary Ann Verdecchia's disappearance rocked the Pittsburgh area in 1962.
One of the oldest and most memorable missing persons cases in southwestern Pennsylvania is that of Mary Ann Verdecchia, who disappeared from Pittsburgh's Bloomfield neighborhood on June 7, 1962. The 10-year-old had lived with her aunt in the five years after her parents separated. She had returned home after a half day of classes at Immaculate Conception School, changed out of her school uniform and went outside about 12:30 p.m. Witnesses saw Mary Ann go into the Martinique Apartments on Baum Boulevard. A woman resident who she ran errands for sent her to the store. She was seen going back into the apartment about 2:45 p.m. And that was the last reported sighting of her. About 6 p.m., her relatives began looking for her. They called police…
Saturday, February 16, 2013
She was last seen or heard from in June 2011, just after she moved back to Pittsburgh from Florida.
Amanda Marie Koller had moved back to the Pittsburgh area from Orlando, FL, in May 2011. The 23-year-old did not establish or maintain a permanent address in the few short weeks after her return, according to her mother. On Sunday, June 12, 2011, she was stopped by Pittsburgh police and cited for operating a vehicle without a valid inspection and also without an emissions inspection. Her car, a purple 2005 Scion TC had a Pennsylvania license plate and also one from Florida, both of which expired in 2011. The license numbers are Pennsylvania GLH 0116 and Florida ANA 4580, according to the Pennsylvania Missing Persons website. She has not been seen nor heard from since. Amanda is described as 5-feet to 5-foot-5, about 100 to 150 pounds with …
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The 16-year-old has been missing since Oct. 23.
Courtney Baltimore, 16, has been missing from her home in Pittsburgh since Oct. 23. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, she might have traveled to Hazelwood or Philadelphia. She is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She has a heart tattooed on her right hand. Anyone with information should contact the Pittsburgh Police Department at 412-255-2937 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678). For more information about this and other missing person cases, visit Pennsylvania Missing Persons, NamUs or the Doe Network.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Two Patch readers explain what they saw when a 2-year-old boy fell into the African painted dogs exhibit and was mauled to death Sunday.
As Pittsburgh police continue their investigation into the death of a 2-year-old boy who was mauled after falling into the African painted dogs exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, witness are telling their stories. Two of them commented to Patch. A person using the name Dreamweaver wrote: "I was at the zoo today in the restaurant right outside of the painted dog exhibit and witnessed it...very scary. We have often thought just how unsafe that exhibit is, nothing to stop anyone from falling. Nothing I want to witness again." Kathleen Lucas was another witness who shared her comments on Patch: "I was there, at the exhibit. It did not take several minutes for the dogs to attack, they did so immediately. It was a horrible scene …
The 2-year-old fell into the painted dogs exhibit and was mauled, according to media reports.
UPDATED: A 2-year-old child was killed at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium Sunday morning after being mauled when he fell into the African painted dogs exhibit. "It is with heavy hearts we report that a tragic accident occurred this morning at 11:45 a.m. when a young child fell into the African painted dog exhibit area and was killed," the zoo stated on its Facebook page. "The accident is under investigation by both the Zoo and the Pittsburgh Police Department. The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium will remain closed until further notice." The child was with his 34-year-old mother, of Pleasant Hills, at the African painted dogs exhibit when he fell from the top of a platform railing to the ground inside the pit area, according to a statement …
Friday, September 21, 2012
Follow Patch for a timeline of events as the hostage situation unfolds at the Gateway Center complex, Downtown.
Update: The stand-off ended peacefully. Here for a full story. An armed man continues to negotiate with police as he holds a hostage onthe 16th floor of Three Gateway Center, Downtown. No shots have been fired, and no one is hurt in the hours-long standoff, though one to two individuals are being held hostage in the offices of law firm Breitsman Associates, police said. The suspect is identified as Klein Michael Thaxton, 22, according to KDKA and WPXI. Police initially said he is from Altoona, Blair County, but court records show his address as McKeesport. Authorities have not determined his motivation for the stand-off. Pittsburgh Police negotiators are speaking to Thaxton, who police said had served in the military They have described…
40.44144
-80.00579
401 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/gateway-center-hostage-stand-off-a-timeline-of-events
/locations/7919201
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Investigators have a suspect in custody in the abduction of infant Bryce Coleman, who was taken from Magee-Womens Hospital Thursday afternoon.
After searching for more than three hours, Pittsburgh Police located a 3-day-old boy who was abducted Thursday from Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC in Oakland, police spokeswoman Diane Richard said. Police have one person in custody in connection with the abduction of infant Bryce Coleman, Richard said in a statement. "The baby has been located . . . and is en route back to Magee to confirm that it is the (abducted) baby," Richard said She did not release any other information but said more details would be "forthcoming" from police. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and KDKA-TV reported that police found the infant in the Investment Building, Downtown, and that the infant is safe. KDKA also showed video of police escorting a woman from the …
Friday, July 27, 2012
Collision occurs on Steubenville Pike.
UPDATE: A Pittsburgh Police commander was seriously injured in a head-on collision Friday afternoon on Steubenville Pike/Route 60 in Robinson Township. Police said the driver, Cmdr. Linda Rosato Barone, was conscious and alert as she was being taken to Allegheny General Hospital, WTAE reported. She was driving her department-issued Chevrolet Impala about 3 p.m. when the accident occurred, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. An employee at NAPA Auto Parts, about a quarter-mile from the crash scene, said the collision occurred around 3:15 p.m. The employee, who did not want to be identified, said workers had to cut someone from the unmarked police vehicle after it went over a hill. Robinson Police responded to a call near 705 …
40.4554
-80.2749
705 Steubenville Pike, McKees Rocks, PA
/articles/police-vehicle-travels-over-hillside-in-robinson-township-kdka-reports
/locations/7493962
James Dale Barrington
8:17 am on Monday, November 5, 2012
I am so sorry..... more ›