O-R Weekly Recap: 5 things you need to know for Friday
A lot has happened this past week in Southwest Pennsylvania and it’d be easy to miss some of the biggest news stories from the area. If you need to get caught up, we have a list of five of the most popular stories from our website to keep you informed of what’s going on in your community.
An Ellsworth man and his girlfriend were arrested by state police for their alleged roles in the burglary of a beer distributor near their home.
Patrick Oreski, 36, of 1 Spruce St., is charged with burglary, criminal trespass, theft and criminal mischief in the break-in at Beer Here Distributor, 1000 Almond Road. Brittany M. Morris, 26, also of 1 Spruce, is charged with receiving stolen property and tampering with evidence.
Police allege that Oreski rammed his blue Jeep Liberty into the side door of the business to enter and allegedly took 30 to 40 cartons of cigarettes, took cash from the register and stole beer. When police searched at Oreski’s home that afternoon, they found several packs of cigarettes and bottles of cold beer hidden inside of closet insulation.
Kathie Warco has the full details in her story.
Washington Crown Center is about to get a new owner. Current owner Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust executed a deal to sell the North Franklin Township mall. However, a PREIT spokesperson declined to list a price or name a buyer.
The deal is expected to close during the third quarter of this year. PREIT has owned Crown Center since November 2003, when it completed a merger with Crown American Realty Trust, which owned 26 malls.
For more information, read Rick Shrum’s coverage of the sale.
A 25-year-old Washington woman who was reportedly behind the wheel of a vehicle that crashed on Interstate 70 and killed her 6-year-old son in 2014 waived charges including homicide by vehicle to court Tuesday after the prosecution withdrew charges of driving under the influence of a controlled substance and homicide by vehicle while DUI.
Crystal Lashea Rush also waived remaining charges before District Judge Ethan Ward. After waiving her case, she was arraigned before Ward on four counts of possession with intent to deliver Suboxone and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
While state police said Rush had Vicodin in her system when she crashed her vehicle June 4, 2014,, Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said he did not feel the drugs in her system caused the crash.
Kathie Warco has more information in her story from Tuesday.
A 33-year-old Beaver County man was sentenced Monday in Washington County for vehicular homicide in a 2014 accident in Hanover Township that killed a Bethel Park woman.
William J. Lee of Georgetown was sentenced to five years in the intermediate punishment program, with the first 364 days in the county jail.
Police said 50-year-old Kimberly Darges was riding her motorcycle on Route 18 near McCutcheon Road in 2014 when Lee’s vehicle struck her. Police were still on scene when they learned she died of her injuries at Weirton (W.Va.) Hospital.
Gideon Bradshaw had the full scoop on this case.
A Sycamore man is facing several misdemeanor charges for allegedly keeping his wife at his father’s house against her will.
John H. McDonald Jr. was charged Monday with two counts of terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, simple assault and harassment for allegedly abusing his wife, Pam McDonald, several times over the course of their yearlong marriage, according to Morris Township police Chief Michael Natale.
Katie Anderson has the full story on this case from Greene County. Click here to read it.
Now, you’re all caught up on everything that you needed to know from the area for this week!