Allegheny County police on Wednesday arrested a Port Vue volunteer firefighter accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in the fire hall.
Ronald E. Diehl, 32, of Tacoma Avenue, is charged with rape, statutory sexual assault and corruption of a minor.
The girl told police she was at the fire department Monday night with her boyfriend and Diehl. When her boyfriend left to get a bathing suit, Diehl asked her to go upstairs to "show her something," according to an affidavit of probable cause filed to support the charges.
In a stairwell, Diehl started kissing her and removed her clothing before raping her, the affidavit states. The attack ended when the girl's boyfriend came into the stairwell, police said.
The girl, whom police did not identify, was treated at UPMC McKeesport Hospital. Diehl was awaiting arraignment last night.
ShalerBoard member leaves over robotics program
Shaler Area School Board member Kenneth Wineberg resigned Wednesday night, apparently over his displeasure about the board's recent adoption of a robotics program.
The announcement was made by board solicitor Ted Brooks. Wineberg was not at the meeting.
"We had a board director resign on account of this," said board member Jeanne Petrovich in questioning the adoption of the robotics program.
Wineberg had voted against the robotics program because he said he had not been given adequate time to review it prior to the vote on June 30. The board has 30 days to appoint a replacement.
Region
New leader set for recruiting battalion
The U.S. Army's Pittsburgh Recruiting Battalion will have a new commander Friday morning.
Lt. Col. Diane L. Martino, 40, of Youngstown, Ohio, will assume the duties from outgoing commander Lt. Col. Robert L. Salvatorelli during a 10 a.m. ceremony at Heinz Field.
The ceremony involves a passing of the guidon, or flag, to symbolize the change in command in the battalion.
Martino was the Distinguished Military Graduate from the ROTC program at Youngstown State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in law administration. She was commissioned as an officer in 1985, and she also holds a master's degree in executive development for public administration from Ball State University.
The battalion, made up of more than 170 soldiers, covers western Pennsylvania and portions of West Virginia and Maryland. It is headquartered in the Federal Building, Downtown.
Hart supports measure to detain illegal aliens
U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart co-sponsored legislation Wednesday designed to clamp down on illegal immigrants.
Hart, a Republican from Bradford Woods, joined U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, a Georgia Republican, in introducing the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003.
The measure would give state and local agencies the authority to detain illegal immigrants -- a jurisdiction currently limited to the Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services.
The act also would improve communication between federal and local authorities to ensure "federal, state and local officials are working together to apprehend individuals who illegally enter this country," Hart said in a prepared statement.
She said "recent lapses in immigration enforcement" prompted the proposal.
Hart said there are more than 300,000 individuals with final deportation orders being sought by immigration officers.
North Side
Man held for trial in girlfriend's death
A North Side man was held for trial on a homicide charge Wednesday after a detective testified that the man confessed to stabbing to death a Brentwood woman he dated.
Myron James Honaker, 49, will face trial for the killing of Sharon Ann Monaco, 45, on June 20 near the National Aviary on the North Side.
Pittsburgh Police Detective Dennis Logan testified yesterday at a coroner's inquest that Honaker told him he took Monaco's bank card earlier this year and withdrew $500 from her account without her knowledge.
The detective said that Honaker told him the day after the killing that he met Monaco to arrange repayment, but that the two fought after Honaker failed to come up with the cash. Honaker told Logan that Monaco drew a knife, which he then wrestled away and used to stab her.
Deputy Coroner Timothy G. Uhrich said Monaco suffered nine stab wounds to the chest.
Allegheny County
Man heading to trial on drug sale charges
A McKeesport man was held for court Wednesday by District Justice Ross Cioppa, of Rankin, on charges that he sold cocaine to undercover officers from the Swissvale apartment of his girlfriend, an Allegheny County social worker.
Abraham Muhammed, 28, of Beaver Street, was charged with selling more than 1/2 an ounce of cocaine to detectives with the District Attorney's Narcotics Enforcement Task Force (DANET).
Muhammed's girlfriend, Amy Eskievich, 27, a case worker with the Family to Family Unit of the Allegheny County Children Youth and Families Division, waived her right to a preliminary hearing in front of Cioppa last week on the same charges. Eskievich is accused of selling more than 1/8 an ounce of cocaine to DANET detectives.
Eskievich, of Smokeywood Drive, is suspended without pay from her position as a liaison between foster parents and biological parents, in which she helps the latter develop better parenting skills.
Homewood man faces trial in shooting death
A 28-year-old Homewood man was held for trial Wednesday in the June 18 shooting death of a 20-year-old Wilkinsburg man.
Raylan Whetsell is accused of killing Resean Booker in the 7800 block of Kelly Street in Homewood following a street fight.
Police said that shortly after the shooting Booker had driven to Kelly Street to collect what may have been a drug-related debt when the fight broke out.
Booker was killed by several gunshot wounds to the chest, Allegheny County Deputy Coroner Timothy G. Uhrich ruled during an inquest yesterday into his death.
Nov. ballot to include home rule amendment
Allegheny County voters will get a second chance this year to decide whether County Council members should be permitted to seek other political offices while also serving on the council.
Council voted Tuesday night to put a home rule charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot that would delete a charter provision requiring council members to resign if they become candidates for other elective positions. Voters defeated that same proposal in the May 20 primary, voting 54 percent to 45 percent against it.
At Tuesday night's meeting, council voted 14-1 to resubmit the ballot question. Councilman Tom Shumaker, a Republican from Pine, opposed it. Shumaker said the proposal struck him "as analogous to voting yourself a pay raise." Other members said the difference is that voters get the final say on a referendum issue.
In the 31/2-year history of the 15-member panel, two council members have resigned in order to seek other offices.
North Fayette
Candle company fire ruled accidental
The fire that destroyed the inventory and candle-making equipment at St. Johnsbury Candle Co. in North Fayette started accidentally, the Allegheny County Fire Marshal's office said Wednesday.
Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Tom Hitchings said the July 1 fire was caused by an electrical malfunction at the factory on West Allegheny Road. The fire started about 1:30 p.m., after a power outage was reported in the area. The fire destroyed the 15,000-square-foot warehouse where Todd and Victoria Bray employed 44 people to manufacture their popular sweet-smelling candles.
The Brays have vowed to rebuild and say they will stay in the North Fayette area, where they live with their children. Hitchings said investigators estimated the loss to be $1 million to $2 million.
Westmoreland County
Parents regain custody after lengthy battle
A Westmoreland County judge ordered an 8-year-old boy returned to his parents almost a year after his grandparents filed for custody.
The boy's mother, Amy Ulery, had asked her parents to care for the child in December 2001 because she and her husband were going through a rough time in their relationship, according to testimony from the boy's father, Lee Ulery.
The grandparents, Ronald and Dianne Waugaman, of Greensburg, filed for full custody in August 2002. During a hearing in April, they claimed the parents were abusive.
The Waugamans have no right to custody because the child had not lived with them for a full year, Judge John Driscoll said. Under Pennsylvania law, proof of abuse or neglect must be shown to remove a child from the parents if the time elapsed is less than a year, and there was no such evidence, Driscoll said.
Pittsburgh
Crime Stoppers seeks suspect in shooting
Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers is seeking help in apprehending William Tooks, 20, a suspect in a May 15 homicide in Mt. Oliver.
Police say Tooks fatally shot John "Ricky" Tucker outside the Happy Days Saloon on Brownsville Road following an argument.
Tooks is black, 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He is known to frequent the Hazelwood, Glen-Hazel and Arlington Heights neighborhoods.
Anyone with information about Tooks' whereabouts is asked to call Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers at (412) 255-8477.
A reward of up to $1,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Tooks. Callers may remain anonymous.
Coraopolis
Driver fails in try to lure teenage girl
Coraopolis police are searching for a man who tried to lure a 17-year-old girl into a van.
The teen told police that a man in a compact, white van pulled up to her about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday as she walked along Oak Alley and asked her for directions.
The girl gave the man directions and started to walk away. He began insisting that she get into the van and show him how to get to his destination, Coraopolis police Chief Alan DeRusso said. The girl ran away and told police. Investigators stopped several vans matching the description, but the girl was unable to positively identify any of the men as the one who tried to abduct her, DeRusso said.
The man is described as white, 30 to 40 years old, with curly hair and wearing a ball cap. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (412) 264-3000.
Duquesne
Man pleads guilty in drug overdose case
A second man has pleaded guilty to supplying heroin to a woman who overdosed on the drug and helping to bury her body in his mother's yard.
Charles Alvin Jones, 24, of Crawford Avenue, Duquesne, was involved with his brother, Ondre Jones, and others in a conspiracy to distribute heroin in the Mon Valley between June 1999 and June 2000, prosecutors said.
Earlier this week, Ondre Jones, 23, pleaded guilty to federal drug violations in connection with the death of Carla Burchell, 28, who died Feb. 21, 2000, after taking heroin she obtained from him at his father's apartment in Crawford Village.
The morning after Burchell died, the Jones brothers and an associate placed her body in a kitchen closet, prosecutors said. Later that night, the three took the body and buried it in a shallow grave, prosecutors said.
Plum
Suspect who outran police still at large
Plum police are seeking a man who eluded them during a foot chase Wednesday.
Mike Kosko, 23, of Old Leechburg Road, is wanted on a variety of charges, including drug possession, fleeing and eluding and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Plum police Chief Robert Payne said a borough detective saw Kosko, who is wanted on a parole violation, as he left a convenience store on Unity Center Road. Kosko ran from police, dumping packets of heroin as he ran, Payne said.
State police joined Plum and Penn Hills police in chasing Kosko but lost sight of him near Siple Street. Kosko, who may be carrying a weapon, is described as a white male with a beard and with multiple tattoos on his arms. He was last seen wearing a white tank top and blue jeans.
Pittsburgh
School's sign still needs zoning OK
The Board of Public Education's billboard has gone up, but it might soon come down.
This morning, the Pittsburgh Zoning Board will consider the Pittsburgh Public Schools' after-the-fact request for approval to erect an electronic message board on the corner of Ninth Street and Fort Duquesne Boulevard, Downtown.
The sign, which is more than 30 feet high and 21 feet wide, stands atop the six-story School for the Performing Arts. School officials erected it without zoning board approval. The sign, which cost $2.7 million, can be seen from the North Side.
But just because the sign is in place doesn't guarantee that the zoning board will allow it to remain, Zoning Administrator Pat Ford said.
