Paul Peirce stories, Page 37

The former secretary-treasurer of Kiski Township has been charged by state police for allegedly making $6,309 in unauthorized purchases using township credit accounts over three years. Monica L. Austin, 48, of Apollo, was charged by Armstrong County state police with access device fraud and theft in connection with numerous incidents...

Two Cambria County high school wrestling coaches were arrested Friday by agents from the state Attorney General’s Office for allegedly pressuring their student-athletes to share pornographic photographs of underage girls. Portage Area High School head wrestling coach Michael Anthony Fox, 33, of Cresson, and Bradley Paul Rousell, 31, of Portage,...

A 19-year-old man was killed late Friday when he lost control of his motorcycle along Interstate 79 and hit a guiderail, state police said. Seth C. Misak of Bethel Park was pronounced dead at the scene of the 11:50 p.m. crash along Interstate 79 near mile post 55 in Collier...

A major area heroin dealer, who investigators said typically conducted business out of his car throughout central and southern Westmoreland County, on Tuesday decided to sell four bricks of the drug from his Mt. Pleasant home. That proved to be a mistake. Borough police and agents from state Attorney General’s...

State police in Belle Vernon said they have “identified suspects” in two brick throwing incidents last month along Interstate 70 that caused a minor injury to one truck driver near the North Belle Vernon interchange. On July 7, state police reported bricks were thrown at two eastbound tractor-trailers. One driver...

North Huntingdon police identified three of five people allegedly involved in a daylight home invasion and assault Saturday afternoon. Arianna R. Matrone, 18, of Hempfield, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of burglary, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, simple assault, harassment and terroristic threats filed by township police in connection with the...

A 20-year-old bicyclist suffered multiple facial fractures, a broken jaw and a broken arm Friday night after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver Friday in Bell Township, state police said. The incident occurred around 9:20 p.m. in front of the Dollar General on Route 981, according to court documents....

A 31-year-old Virginia man wanted in a fatal summer shooting there is in the Westmoreland County Prison after being tracked to a home in New Kensington where he was arrested by federal authorities. Christopher Buckner of Manassas Park was arrested last week by the U.S. Marshal’s fugitive task force after...

Two former female inmates at the Westmoreland County prison testified Friday that a county sheriff’s deputy frequently asked inmates to expose themselves or grope him over his uniform in exchange for cigarettes during van rides to court hearings. After listening to two hours of testimony from the women, District Judge...

A former Westmoreland County prison guard avoided a preliminary hearing Friday on charges of assaulting a 33-year-old inmate by waiving his case to trial in common pleas court. Jeremy B. Lynn, 38, of Ligonier Township was scheduled for a hearing before Hempfield District Judge Mark Mansour in the assault of...

A 75-year-old South Huntingdon man had an open bottle of whiskey in the front passenger seat of his SUV in two suspected DUI collisions along Route 31, state police said. Joseph P. Shott is charged with two counts of drunk driving and single counts of fleeing the scene of an...

A 20-year-old Southwest Greensburg man was arrested after he, allegedly, repeatedly struck his roommate on his head with a portable drill late Tuesday and then drilled into his back. Raymond T. Mullin III was arraigned on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment filed by borough police after the...

A Greensburg-area teenager tearfully testified Tuesday how a stranger grabbed her by the throat, picked her “off the floor” and threw her to the floor at Westmoreland Mall on Dec. 27 after she replied to an offhand comment he made about her appearance. “After he made the comment to me...

A 22-year-old Donegal Township man is jailed on $50,000 bond, charged with multiple counts of photographing sex acts with an underage girl last year. Zachary D. Kastner was arrested by state troopers in Greensburg on two counts of knowingly permitting and photographing sex acts with a juvenile and single counts...

State police say a Mt. Pleasant woman was nearly three times over the legal limit of alcohol when she veered off Route 31 early July 3 and struck two pedestrians in Mt. Pleasant Township, seriously injuring one. Elizabeth M. Sirianni, 30, was arraigned Monday on charges of driving under the...

A 41-year-old Honduran man is being held without bond in the Westmoreland County Prison after being accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl while swimming at Keystone State Park in Derry Township. Noe Ivan Soto Alvarez, who lists a local address in Braddock, Allegheny County, was arrested by state police...

A 34-year-old Mt. Pleasant man allegedly threatened his mother and police as multiple officers arrested him last week after an almost two month-long drug investigation. Joe P. Biller is accused of operating a mobile meth lab out of his car, according to borough police. He’s being held in the county...

An Indiana County man attempted to hide the theft of an all-terrain vehicle this month by burying it in his backyard, state police said. Stephen P. McCloskey, 23, of Homer City, is charged with receiving stolen property, alteration of a vehicle identification number and theft after troopers dug up the...

A 49-year-old Washington County man was arraigned this week in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh after he was indicted on charges of sexually exploiting an underage boy. Joey Leroy Barton of Charleroi pleaded not guilty to the five-count indictment that includes charges of production and attempted production of material depicting...

A Mt. Pleasant man who allegedly fired a handgun outside his home after an argument with his wife and then rode a lawn tractor down Main Street while displaying the gun surrendered Wednesday to borough police. David T. Howland, 32, was arraigned Thursday on 23 criminal counts including driving under...

A 41-year-old North Huntingdon woman who became combative with paramedics and police as they carried her to an ambulance early Wednesday was charged with aggravated assault and making terroristic threats. Tara S. Nehas was arraigned after her release from UPMC East Hospital in Monroeville, where she was treated for an...

A Greensburg man accused of selling drugs out of a North Huntingdon home attempted to hide more than four bricks of heroin from police inside a toilet tank by wrapping it in plastic and attaching it to a shoe string, police said. Troy V. Jackson, 53, was arrested on multiple...

A year-long investigation into methamphetamine trafficking from the West Coast into Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties resulted in the arrest of an Elizabeth Township woman Monday. Alexis M. “Lexy” Stoupis, 38, of Buena Vista, was arrested in Westmoreland County by troopers with the state police organized crime unit who say...