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RECENT STORIES FROM THE PATRIOT-NEWS:
Man, teen arrested
Staff of The Patriot News 10/03/07
A Susquehanna Twp. officer hurt his knee Tuesday when he chased a man and a
teenager in an area hit by bicycle thefts, police reported. Norman
Spriggs III of the 3400 block of North Sixth Street, and the teenager were
seen shortly after 4:30 p.m. walking in the 3400 block of Logan Avenue and
started to run when the officer arrived, police said. They
were caught in the 3400 block of North Sixth Street without incident.
Spriggs was charged with drug violations and disorderly conduct. He
was turned over to Lancaster County sheriff’s office, police said.
The 13-year-old, who was not identified because
of his age, was taken to Shaffner Detention Center. He had a warrant
for his arrest from the Dauphin County Juvenile Probation office,
police said. The officer was placed
on light duty because of his injury, police said.
Woman, 20, dies following Susquehanna Twp. crash
Matthew Kemeny 10/03/07
For about 20 hours, Sharon Smith sat at her daughter’s bedside at Penn
State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, praying she’d see her
20-year-old’s hazel eyes open one last time. Jessica
Smith had slipped into a coma from injuries suffered in a two-vehicle accident
Monday night on Routes 22/322 in Susquehanna Twp. Through the night and
following morning, family and friends rushed to the hospital to comfort Sharon
and stay by Jessica Smith’s side. “We
wanted her to get better,” Sharon Smith said. “But we knew in our hearts
she wasn’t.”
As Tuesday evening dragged on, family members slowly accepted the
inevitable. They each said their goodbyes, telling Jessica Smith they loved
her before her mother instructed doctors to remove her from life support.
“They say people in comas can hear you,” Sharon Smith said. “And I hope
they’re right.” Jessica Smith was pronounced dead at 2:36 a.m. on
Wednesday from multiple traumatic injuries, according to the Dauphin County
coroner’s office.
Township police and Dauphin County accident reconstruction teams continue
to investigate the crash and are hoping more witnesses will come forward to
shed light on how it happened. According to police, Jessica Smith of
West Hanover Twp., was driving a gray Ford F-150 east about 8:17 p.m., when
she collided with an eastbound Kia minivan driven by Robin Mauldin. The
impact caused Smith to lose control, sending her pickup rolling onto the
median strip. She was wearing a seat belt, authorities said. Mauldin, of
Penbrook, was treated at the scene for minor injuries, police said. It
was the township’s seventh fatal accident of the year. “It’s been a
tragic year for us,” police Chief Robert A. Martin said. “And our hearts
go out to everyone who lost someone.”
Jessica Smith, a 2005 graduate of Central Dauphin High School, was driving
home from class at Harrisburg Area Community College when the crash happened,
her mother said. Her daughter was a busy
woman, Sharon Smith said, spending days driving a dump truck for Yingst Homes
Inc. and four nights a week at HACC studying to be a civil engineer. She had
gotten her commercial driver’s license and bought a red Ford Mustang with a
black-and-white checkered hood. “She was a
saver,” Sharon Smith said. “She saved every penny until she got what she
wanted.”
Jessica Smith’s other love was farming. Many mornings she’d get up at 5
a.m. to help the Yingsts plow their field or feed their animals. More than
anything else, she adored John Deere tractors. She collected John Deere
memorabilia — hats, T-shirts, even socks. “She
was big on helping,” said her father, Jackie Smith. “And she loved to be
around horses and tractors.” As a child, Jessica
Smith loved to play softball and soccer. As a teenager, she participated in
the Central PA Youth Rodeo Association. In the summers, she’d see country
music stars Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Toby Keith in concert.
As a high school senior, Jessica Smith took up hunting, her mother said.
Her graduation present was a hunting trip to Canada, where she bagged her
first black bear. “She was a great kid,”
Sharon Smith said. “There wasn’t anything Jessie couldn’t do.”
Cross roads: Illegal parking irks residents
Carrie Cassidy 10/01/07
Susquehanna Twp.’s Redwood Street was a quiet road when Harry Alexander
moved there nearly 30 years ago, but times have changed and so has his
neighborhood. Several years ago, the nearby
athletic fields — the ones behind Susquehanna Twp. Middle School — were
upgraded and are being used by more teams than ever. More teams mean more
games, and more parents and families coming to see their athletes compete,
Harry’s wife, Melanie Alexander, said Sunday. Most
nights of the week and almost every Saturday, those parents’ vehicles line
Redwood Street, one of the township’s oldest neighborhoods and home to many
retirees. Often vehicles are stretched across residents’ driveways or parked
on their lawns, Melanie Alexander said.
Harry Alexander’s frustration peaked about two years ago when a car
blocked his driveway and he couldn’t pull in. He retrieved a can of red
spray paint and colored the curb in front of his house along with the back end
of the car blocking it, she said. “He was hoping to send a message,
but all he ended up getting was some legal trouble,” Melanie Alexander
said. He had to pay about $120 in damages and court costs. The
parking situation has continued to worsen, neighbors say.
Permit parking became a requirement on Redwood Street at the beginning of
the year, according to police Chief Rob Martin. Signs are posted on the
street. The police chief initially encouraged his officers to issue
“courtesy tickets” to motorists who illegally park while they adjust to
the change. Since the beginning of the year, officers issued 17 courtesy
tickets, and 10 regular tickets at $25 each, based on the residents’
complaints. More tickets have likely been issued, but the department doesn’t
keep track of those, Martin said.
Most of the ticketed motorists don’t live in the area or Dauphin County,
Martin said. “The citizens on Redwood Street have
a valid concern, but it’s been frustrating for people on both sides of the
issue,” he said. Martin would like to see
more parking in that area because “any relief in that situation would be
phenomenal.” Many residents of Redwood
Street don’t think a lack of parking is the problem. Laziness is the issue,
they said.
Susan Pope, who has lived on that street for about 18 years, said she
usually sees plenty of empty spaces at the middle school’s parking lot but,
like her neighbors, she thinks people are trying to avoid a longer walk to the
fields. Those motorists don’t realize that they are inconveniencing
her, said Pope, who doesn’t have off-street parking like many of her
neighbors. When motorists inundate her street, Pope has nowhere to park
when she returns home from work. “The noise and the litter they leave
on your lawn, I could probably deal with all that. What I can’t deal with is
coming home from work exhausted and not being able to get to your house,”
she said. “It’s just not fair.”
The residents don’t have a problem with folks watching their children
play. Scott Spearing, another resident, said it shouldn’t be at their
expense. These residents are often disrespected by those motorists when warned
of the permit parking, he said. A couple of weeks ago, Spearing said he
was working on his front porch when he spotted someone illegally parking. When
he called out for that person to move, Spearing said, the motorist yelled
back. “He just wanted to argue with me, and he seemed like he wanted
[the argument] to get physical, but I’m not about that,” he said.
“What’s bad is that we have a very nice, peaceful environment that is
being taken over by people who don’t care. We shouldn’t have to put up
with this.”
Police arrested cemetery worker in thefts
Police in Susquehanna Twp., Dauphin County, arrested a man who they say stole
at least 12 bronze vases from the Harrisburg East Cemetery in the 2200 block of
Herr Street. Steven Stephens, 39, of the 1800
block of North Street, Harrisburg, is accused of cutting the chains that attach
the vases to the markers and stealing them. The vases were valued at $4,320, and
police said they are checking to see whether more have been stolen. Police
say Stephens is a maintenance worker at the cemetery.
A man tried to sell the vases Friday to CSR scrap-metal business on Cameron
Street, but the owner called police instead. He had read about the stolen vases
in Friday’s edition of The Patriot-News, police said. Stephens was
arrested later that day by Lower Paxton Twp. and charged with theft, desecration
or sale of venerated objects and institutional vandalism. He was placed in
Dauphin County prison in lieu of $5,000 bail.
Police seek candidates to become officers-Community
talks aim to build list for September test
CARRIE CASSIDY September 02, 2007
Susquehanna Twp.'s newest police officers could be taking classes at a
community college, getting their hair cut in a barber shop, or sitting in the
pews at the Greater Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Progress Avenue.
The latter is where Susquehanna Twp. police Officer Francia Done gave a
presentation on becoming a police officer Aug. 26. Done's visit to the
church is part of the township police department's effort to draw more officer
candidates to its testing on Sept. 29.
Chief Rob Martin said getting people to take the written tests has been
difficult at times. That's why his department initiated its second recruiting
drive since 2003. "Recruiting drives in the past have helped get
people to the written tests," Martin said. "We've been fortunate to
get some good candidates, but it does require outreach on our part."
Susquehanna's department isn't the only one that has struggled at times to
draw a lot of candidates to the written and physical tests. Many police
departments across the country have become desperate in their recruiting
efforts. Some relaxed standards to swell their dwindling candidate pools,
while others are taking recruits from other departments. No one knows for
sure why the list of officer candidates has dwindled in recent years. Some blame
the Iraq war for siphoning would-be police recruits, while others point to
starting salaries. The average starting salary in the midstate is about $40,000,
depending on the size of the department.
While he said he agrees with those theories, Dennis McMaster, East Pennsboro
Twp.'s police chief, has one of his own. McMaster said the strong economy
usually entices people with better jobs and working conditions. "Not
everyone wants to be in a job where you get punched in the nose and have to take
a lot of verbal abuse," McMaster said. McMaster's department is
struggling to keep a full complement of officers. High advertising and training
costs can leave smaller departments with few choices when it comes to
candidates, he said.
East Pennsboro and similar departments don't have the time or money to
sponsor a candidate through training, especially, as McMaster pointed out, when
there's no guarantee that candidate will pass. Applicants already Act 120
certified -- meaning they've been through the six-month police academy -- have a
better chance at getting a second look. Most of the roughly 80 officer
candidates going through the training at Harrisburg Area Community College
annually have been scooped up by bigger departments that have the money and time
to wait for those people to become certified, McMaster said.
Discussions are starting in Cumberland County in testing a cost-saving
initiative that has helped many Dauphin County police departments with their
hiring expenses. About four years ago, a group of Dauphin County
departments formed a hiring consortium to save costs on advertising and testing.
Derry Twp. Lt. Dave Hall, who helps run the consortium, said participating
departments divide costs and divvy up duties when the written and physical tests
are given. The consortium usually draws about 200 applicants, and a final
list of candidates who pass the written and physical tests is given to the
participating departments. They select candidates to interview based on their
own criteria, Hall said.
When someone is hired, the participating departments are notified and that
candidate is taken off the list, Hall said.
CARRIE CASSIDY: 255-8244 or ccassidy@patriot-news.com
Items stolen from vehicles
Compiled by Carrie Cassidy and Matt Miller
August 31, 2007
Police are investigating the thefts from unlocked vehicles in two areas of
the township Wednesday or Thursday. Six vehicles were entered in the Saybrook
Meadows development in the northern end of the township and seven were entered
in the southern end on Linn, Maple, Park and Penrose streets, police said.
Stolen items included sunglasses, iPod adapters, a computer hard drive, a
satellite receiver, a Blackberry and change, among other things.
Extra patrols have been ordered, but police advised residents not to leave
valuable items in plain view and to lock cars.
Suspect downs 30 rocks of crack, cops say
By Carrie Cassidy August 20, 2007
A Harrisburg man swallowed 29 individually wrapped crack cocaine rocks when
officers tried to arrest him early Sunday morning, Susquehanna Twp. police
said. Charles Bowman, 34, of the 2200 block of North Sixth Street,
downed the drugs while struggling with officers to avoid arrest, police Chief
Rob Martin said today. Bowman eventually was arrested and sent to
Harrisburg Hospital for treatment of a minor injury and for the swallowed
drugs. Police also wanted to wait for the drugs to pass through Bowman's
system so they can collect the evidence, but they likely won't have any
evidence to collect, Martin said. The hospital released Bowman without
notifying police, Martin said. "He was out overnight while we were
looking for him," the chief said. "We believe normal bodily
functions have occurred and he's obviously out of danger. We don't believe
it's still in his system."
Bowman turned himself into police less than a day after his arrest at 2:30
a.m. Sunday, Martin said. According to police, an officer noticed
Bowman's registration on the brown Buick he was driving matched the
registration for a Dodge, triggering a traffic stop. Bowman was holding
the crack rocks in his hand when the officer approached his car near the Super
8 Motel on North Front Street, Martin said. The officer ordered Bowman
out of the car, but he refused and put the 30 crack rocks in his mouth, Martin
said, adding that Bowman swallowed all but one of the rocks during a struggle
with police. The remaining rock was collected as evidence and tested
positive for crack. They also seized a small bag of marijuana and more than
$2,000 found inside Bowman's car, Martin said. Police charged Bowman
with possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine, possession of a small
amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest,
tampering with evidence, driving under suspension and several traffic
violations. He was placed in Dauphin County prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.
A NIGHT OF FEAR
26 years after robbery, ex-tellers still haunted
Thursday, August 02, 2007
BY CARRIE CASSIDY
Lynnea Hall always wondered about the man who kept her in fear for years and
frequents her thoughts, even 26 years after their encounter. Hall was 17
when the man with a gun, masked with pantyhose, robbed her and co-worker Gina
Walters, 18, while they were closing the Fulton Bank branch on Progress Avenue
in Susquehanna Twp. The robber then got into a shoot-out with a police
officer, who was nearly killed. It plays like streaming video in Hall's mind,
she said. "I was petrified for years after that, and I couldn't be
left alone. We all could have died that night," said Hall, of Enola.
"It left me with so many questions, like who this guy was and how he got
away with it for so long."
Hall might have learned some of the answers last week when Susquehanna Twp.
police announced a suspect in the Feb. 19, 1981, robbery and near-fatal shooting
of Sgt. Robert "Bo" McCallister. Detective Jim Heilig identified
the suspect as Carl Gugasian, who is considered the most prolific bank robber in
U.S. history. Gugasian's reputed 30-year career ended with his arrest in 2002.
He was sentenced in 2003 to a 171/2-year federal prison sentence for five bank
robberies, though he admitted to about 50 more. Because too much time has
elapsed, investigators can't prosecute him for those 50 robberies or the more
than 100 others in which they suspected him, such as the 1981 robbery in
Susquehanna Twp.
During a recent interview with Heilig, Gugasian denied robbing the bank. But
federal investigators have said the bank might have been among the 160 marked on
a map Gugasian had before his arrest. Walters, whose maiden name is
Hydrick, was closing the bank when she noticed Hall knocking on the door seconds
after she had left work for the night. The robber jumped from behind the corner
as Walters unlocked the doors, she said.
"I remember him pointing a gun at us and saying, 'Open up the safe' and
'give me money,'" Walters said this week, adding that the robber seemed
very calm. Hall went so far as to call him "very nice." The
women gave what cash they had in their money drawers to the robber, who then
walked them outside, the handgun pointed at their backs, the women said.
That's when McCallister drove up to the bank in his police cruiser, responding
to a silent alarm. The officer gave chase when the robber fled, and soon the
women heard gunshots, Walters said. "I remember watching the guy sort
of turn, he dropped down to one knee, fired and Bo went down," she said.
"Once [the robber] was out of sight, I ran over there to see how [McCallister]
was doing." In the meantime, Hall said, she hurried to the cruiser
and "pushed just about every button" on the emergency radio to get
help for the wounded officer. "I must've pushed the right button
because I heard, 'Help is on the way,'" she said. Soon, the women
remember, a mass of police officers, helicopters and tracking dogs gathered
around them and around McCallister, who had been shot through his abdomen, about
an inch below his bulletproof vest.
McCallister survived the shooting and retired from the township force in
2003. Walters and Hall have since left the banking industry, with the memory of
that night lodged in the back of their minds. Hall said she can't let go
of the robbery until she gets her questions answered. "I want to know
if he ever had remorse for what he put us through, for what he put Officer
McCallister through," she said. "I want to come face to face
with him and see in my gut if this is the man who did this to us. I'd love to,
but I don't know if I'd ever be able to."
Detectives stay on the trail
Thursday, July 26, 2007
BY CARRIE CASSIDY
The few in Susquehanna Twp. who remember Ramon Yentzer and James Douglas
Kelbaugh are, perhaps, the investigators searching for their killers. More
than 20 years have passed since Yentzer was shot to death outside his home in
the Scottsdale apartment complex. And it's more than a decade since Kelbaugh's
badly decomposed body was found by hikers on First Mountain in northern
Susquehanna Twp.
Police released few details about the slayings at the time, something
investigators now say might be why those homicides remain unsolved. By
releasing even a few more details about these cold cases when reopening them two
years ago, township police Chief Rob Martin said progress has been made.
Investigators might even have suspects in both slayings and a highly publicized
bank robbery in which an officer was severely injured. They declined to identify
those suspects for now. "I think reopening the cases and releasing
information to the public has proven its value," Martin said during a
recent interview with three of the detectives heading investigations.
The detectives are also looking into the Feb. 19, 1981, shooting of township
police Sgt. Robert "Bo" McCallister. McCallister was shot when
chasing the man who had robbed the Fulton Bank on Progress Avenue. The robber
fired after McCallister jumped behind a tree, where he was hit by a .45-caliber
slug, according to newspaper records. As he lay on the ground with only
one bullet left in his revolver, McCallister watched the robber walk toward him
but, for whatever reason, turn and run away.
McCallister never knew the name of the gunman who almost took his life that
day, but Detective Jim Heilig, the lead investigator, said he thinks he knows.
That case is perhaps the most notorious of Susquehanna's unsolved crimes because
it spawned a multicounty manhunt with helicopters, tracking dogs and officers
from all over the midstate trying to hunt down the gunman.
Lesser known are the two slayings.
Yentzer, 34, was shot to death near his home at Scottsdale Apartments on
March 28, 1978. His death made the papers about six times in the years after his
death, including his obituary and a Dauphin County Crime Stoppers item when the
case was reopened. The case stalled when leads dried up and the ones
police did have didn't pan out. Police had a suspect at the time, but Detective
Michael Thornton said investigators were unable to find enough evidence for an
arrest. Since reopening the case, new evidence against that suspect has
surfaced and an arrest is possible, Thornton said.
Investigators said they also are getting closer to closure for the family of
a 26-year-old Hagerstown, Md., man who was killed in 1986. There was no
identification on James Douglas Kelbaugh's body when hikers found it on May 8,
1986, in a densely wooded, secluded area. It wasn't until two years later
that officers got a missing persons report from Maryland state police and were
able to make the connection, said Lt. Richard Pastucka, who is investigating the
death. Solving the death of someone whom police couldn't identify for two
years was difficult in itself, but at least time is on Pastucka's side.
Using a national database of unsolved crimes has yielded new information that
could help Pastucka solve the case. Information from the database shows that
about 12 similar homicides were reported on the East Coast around that time, and
gave the investigators suspects' names.
Technological advances and new tools, such as the national database Pastucka
used, can revive cases, Thornton said. "Time can also work on
witnesses' consciences, making them more willing to tell investigators what they
know," he said. It can also work on the conscience of the offender,
oftentimes when they are nearing death themselves, as in the Richard Ramm case,
Heilig said. Police said the killer of Ramm, a Lock Haven-area farmer
found shot to death at a North Front Street motel on March 26, 1992, confessed
to the slaying while he was near death himself, Martin said. Police never
arrested him because they learned of the confession after the man had died,
Martin said. The case was officially closed 10 years after the killing.
"That case shows the importance of never giving up on a case, even if
the offender cannot be brought to justice, as in McCallister's shooting,"
Martin said. The statute of limitations has run out on the case, but
continuing the investigation, and the probes into the two homicides, is about
closure for the victim and their families, the chief and the detectives
agreed. "A lot of time has passed, and people have forgotten about
the victims, but the victim's family hasn't," Pastucka said. "We owe
it to the victim. That's who we work for because we are the victim's
voice.
Suspect in slaying arrested in Philly
Saturday, July 21, 2007
The man who Penbrook police believe was the shooter in the May 20 death of
Dalton Chambers Jr. was arrested yesterday in Philadelphia. Penbrook
officers drove to Philadelphia yesterday morning to pick up Niam Boynton, 23,
who had moved from Philadelphia to Sycamore Court in Susquehanna Twp. shortly
before the shooting. Police had already arrested Shariff R. White, 19, of
Sycamore Court, Susquehanna Twp., and Larry McGriff, 19, of the 4500 block of
Sequoia Drive, Lower Paxton Twp., in the shooting. McGriff provided the handgun
that was used in the shooting, police said.
A refused handshake led to Chamber's death, officials said. Dauphin
County District Attorney Ed Marsico said White refused to shake Chambers' hand,
starting an argument that allegedly led to the shooting. After the
argument, Chambers walked from his apartment in the 2700 block of Locust Lane to
the entrance of East Harrisburg Park Cemetery on North 28th Street, where he was
shot around 1:15 a.m. May 20, Marsico said. Chambers was taken to
Harrisburg Hospital, where he died of gunshot wounds, according to Dauphin
County Coroner Graham Hetrick.
Missing senior citizen found in Wildwood Park
July 19, 2007
A man who was reported missing at 10 p.m. Tuesday from the Bentley Assisted
Living Center in Susquehanna Twp. was found over 24 hours later by police in a
remote area of Wildwood Park. Melvyn Bosler, 68, was found by bike
patrol officers who were able to get into the remoter areas of the park,
township police Chief Robert A. Martin said. Martin said Bosler had left
the home at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning and had not returned by 10 p.m. Officers
searched for him that evening without result.
On Wednesday, Detective James Heilig uncovered information that Bosler may
have taken a taxi to the park on Harrisburg's north side. A search of the park
began at 11 a.m. Wednesday by township officers, detectives, and bike patrol
officers, who were able to cover a large area of the park and get into remote
areas, Martin said. Bike officers Chris Croft and Kevin Scott heard
someone calling for help and found Bosler in a remote area, Martin said. Croft
and Scott had to carry Bosler out of the park due to his deteriorated health
due to exposure, and he received medical treatment at an ambulance that was
dispatched to the park. Police were assisted in the search by Dauphin
County Park Rangers and citizens who were visiting the park, Martin said
Man hit by truck dies
Pedestrian's death highlights dangers along Walnut Street
William Boyd, 92, was trying to cross Walnut Street yesterday morning, for
whatever reason, but he never made it across the busy road. A pickup truck
hit him near 32nd Street about 8:45 a.m. He died several hours later, despite
doctors' attempts to repair the damage caused by the impact. He was
pronounced dead at Community General Osteopathic Hospital in Lower Paxton Twp.,
bringing to six the number of people killed on township roads this year.
Police said they don't know whether Boyd was trying to get to his Hillside
Street home, about a block from where he was hit. Charges are not expected to be
filed in this case, but police say the investigation continues. The
accident that killed Boyd is the fifth in that block since the beginning of the
year, which police Chief Rob Martin says is higher than usual. Thirty-two
accidents have been investigated in that stretch since 2002, he said.
Boyd's death highlights a problem that's been around for many years, and has
progressed as slowly as the nearly 50,000 vehicles inching every day along the
major East Shore commuter artery. "I think that 32 accidents in a
five-year stretch shows a need for improvement ... along the corridor,"
Martin said. "Every year the traffic grows, not only vehicular, but
pedestrian and bicycle traffic as well. We're hoping there's movement on those
studies because there just needs to be improvements made to those
areas." One of two projects is under way to improve the eight miles
of road between Harrisburg and the West Hanover Twp. border and the notoriously
dangerous intersection of Progress Avenue and Walnut Street in Susquehanna Twp.
A citizens advisory committee has pared a list of intersection designs from
15 to three. Those designs will be discussed at a public meeting in September,
according to Susquehanna Twp. Commissioner Sean Sanderson, who serves on the
committee. Once a design is selected, project leaders have said they will
still have to find the millions of dollars needed to rebuild the
intersection. Whatever design is selected will be incorporated in a
separate but closely related project called the Walnut Street Corridor
study. The study looks at how to manage vehicles along the busy road that
goes by three names, along with finding ways to enhance the aesthetics, and the
economies of the neighborhoods that line it. Adding sidewalks to improve
pedestrian safety is also part of the study, according to its Web site -- www.walnutstreetcorridor.com.
The study, which officials hope will yield a redevelopment plan all
municipalities will adopt, is still in its initial phase, and has a long way to
go before completion.
Martin said he hopes pedestrians should think twice about crossing Walnut
Street, especially during the busy parts of the day. "We constantly
see citizens walking across these busy, congested area," Martin said. It's
just very dangerous locations. I would tell citizens not to cross there."
Woman's death in fire ruled a suicide
Teacher remembered for dedication, kindness faced 2nd DUI charge
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
BY CARRIE CASSIDY
Shelie Funston dedicated her life to teaching children to read, according to
those who knew the Susquehanna Twp. woman. She worked for nearly 17 years
as a teacher for the Central Dauphin School District, most recently as a reading
specialist at Chambers Hill and North Side elementary schools. But she
also had her share of adversity, according to court records. At the time
she died, Funston was facing charges for a second drunken driving arrest and was
in the midst of a child custody battle, court records state. Whether that
was going through her mind as she ignited the gasoline she poured in her home
is, as one investigator put it, "between her and God."
Authorities said Funston died from inhaling smoke caused by the fire she
started in the master bedroom of her home at 149 S. Timber Ridge Drive about 7
p.m. Monday. Emergency responders found alcohol and a gasoline can next to
where she was found in an upstairs bedroom, leading investigators to suspect
arson, township Fire Marshal George Drees said yesterday. Not long after
firefighters carried her from the house, Funston was pronounced dead at
Community General Osteopathic Hospital in Lower Paxton Twp. "Based on
our findings at the scene, [we] have determined the death a suicide," Drees
and police Chief Rob Martin said in a joint statement. After an autopsy,
Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick said Funston died of smoke inhalation and
ruled her death a suicide.
Police chief's efforts earn statewide crime award
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Susquehanna Twp.'s police chief was honored recently with an annual statewide
award, hailed for implementing programs that significantly reduced crime over
the past six years. Rob Martin, who has been the township's police chief
for 10 years, received the award from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and
Delinquency. He was recognized last week at the agency's 94th annual education
and training conference in Lancaster.
According to the agency's Web site, the award is bestowed on a police chief
who has "demonstrated a strong commitment to crime prevention by actively
participating in prevention strategies or by supporting opportunity reduction
programs through the resources of the police agency." Martin was
cited for implementing several programs or changes he's made within the police
department that has helped decrease crime in the township by 40 percent in six
years. Volunteers in Police Service program and the Citizens Police
Academy are two relatively new programs for the police department that are
attributed with the reduction in crime, along with permanent beat assignments
for officers, an anonymous tip line, and mandatory foot patrols in the
neighborhoods and schools.
Viewed as perhaps the most effective program is the chief's Operation Red
Zone, a patrol that uses statistics to map crime patterns. With that
information, Martin increases police presence in high-crime areas.
Harrisburg's Chief Charles Kellar received the honor in 2004 and Charles Snyder,
chief of Lower Allen Twp.'s force, received it three years earlier.
Woman dies in Susq. Twp. house fire
Authorities rule it arson as they seek answers
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
BY REGGIE SHEFFIELD
The fire that killed a Susquehanna Twp. woman last night was arson, the
township's fire marshal said. Shellie Funston, 38, of 149 South Timber
Ridge Drive, was removed from her smoke-filled town house by emergency
responders shortly after 7 p.m. but was pronounced dead at Community General
Osteopathic Hospital, where she was taken by ambulance. Less than four
hours later, Fire Marshal George Drees said his preliminary investigation
indicated arson. "It was arson. The fire was contained to the
second-floor bedroom," Drees said. He declined to provide additional
details. Drees said the Dauphin County Coroner's office would conduct an
autopsy, probably today, and that township police were investigating.
Peggy Pray, who lives a few doors from Funston's town house in the tidy
development just off Route 39, said she had been visiting with her daughter
after dinner and was returning home when she saw thick, black smoke billowing
from her neighbor's front upstairs window. "I walked out and I saw
black smoke. I said to my daughter, 'Someone's place is on fire,'" Pray
said. Pray and another neighbor tried to enter the burning, smoke filled
town house but were pushed back by heavy smoke. "I didn't even see
any flames," Pray said. "All we could see was dense, black
smoke," she said. Pray said Funston had lived in the quiet
development about a year and was always happy when she saw her. "We
were just really good neighbors," Pray said. But Pray, who spoke with
reporters before authorities made their arson determination, did say that the
last time she saw Funston she didn't seem herself and didn't greet her with her
normal, "Hi." "She was just in another world," Pray
said.
Susquehanna Twp. Police Chief Robert A. Martin said township officers were
the first officials to arrive at the scene. "Our guys arrived, and
the smoke was too heavy to get in. Fire department guys arrived and rescued her
and brought her out for medical attention," Martin said. Funston was
divorced and had a son in his early teens, neighbors said. A fiance, whose name
was not available last night, was visibly shaken after arriving at the scene and
was taken to receive medical attention, Martin said.
Pizza delivery man robbed, police say
July 16, 2007
Susquehanna Twp. police are searching for two men they say lured a pizza
delivery man to a home in the 3400 block of North Fourth Street and robbed him
at gunpoint at 10 p.m. July 7. When the delivery man arrived to deliver
several pizzas to a home where nobody lives, police said the robbers came
around the side of the house and demanded money from the delivery man.
The robbers, who used a semiautomatic pistol, made off with an undisclosed
amount of cash, police said. No one was injured in the armed robbery.
Police Chief Rob Martin said he has stepped up patrols in the neighborhood
since the robbery.
The two robbers are described as thin, black men, between 15 and 23 years old
and between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 6 inches tall. One of the men wore dark
clothing during the robbery and the other a white hoodie sweatshirt, police
said. Anyone with information is asked to contact the township police at
652-8265 or the anonymous tip line at 909-TIPS
Former NFL player charged in assault
Ex-football player, 2 others charged with assault, theft
Friday, July 13, 2007
BY CARRIE CASSIDY
A former member of the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers is one of
three men accused by police in a home-invasion robbery just before midnight
Wednesday in Susquehanna Twp. Mike Jemison, 24, of Philadelphia, who
played on practice squads for both teams within the past two years, was arrested
with two other men late Wednesday night, police said.
According to police, the three men forced their way into an apartment in the
Pines Apartments in the 300 block of North Progress Avenue. Once inside, they
hit a man twice on the head with a pistol while holding the man's girlfriend on
the ground, police said. The three, who had threatened to shoot the
couple, took the man onto the apartment's balcony, where the man was able to
jump free and run for help, police said. Jemison; Jai-Michael Hudson, 23,
of the 2500 block of Thomas Street, Penbrook; and Lashawn Sanders, 20, no
address given, were charged with robbery, burglary, aggravated assault,
conspiracy, theft, reckless endangerment and unlawful restraint, police
said. They are being held in Dauphin County Prison in lieu of $200,000
bail.
Police did not identify the victims. An officer responding to a call about a
disturbance found the man running around the complex and said the man told him
he'd been hit in the head by a gun and his girlfriend might have been
shot. But township police Chief Rob Martin said the man and the woman were
not hurt. Susquehanna and Penbrook police sealed off the apartment complex
and apparently blocked in two of the robbers, who police said were trying to
drive away. The third was found walking along the 3400 block of Walnut Street,
police said. All three men were identified by the victims as the robbers,
police said. Martin said he did not know why that apartment was targeted.
Police said the only item stolen was a Raven Arms .25-caliber handgun, which
officers found in a bag near a Dumpster not far from the crime scene.
Inside the bag, officers found a .45-caliber pistol, a New York Giants football
team official identification card and team apparel, police said. The
Giants-related items belong to Jemison, police said. Jemison played high
school football at Greencastle-Antrim in Franklin County, graduating early so he
could begin his college career at Pittsburgh in January 2001. He was a running
back at Pitt before finishing his college career at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania in 2005. He tried three times to break into an NFL starting
roster. The Giants signed Jemison as a free agent in May 2005 and released
him three months later. He was then re-signed and put on the team's
practice squad the following September, according to a team
representative. The Steelers signed Jemison in February 2006 and sent him
to the NFL Europe's Hamburg Sea Devils in Germany, according to the team's Web
site. He was released by the Steelers at the end of the season. The
Giants signed Jemison again in August, but terminated his contact less than two
months later, the team representative said. There is no record of him
playing for any other NFL team.
Jemison is awaiting trial on charges stemming from an incident that occurred
about two months before his final release from the Giants. Details of the
case were unavailable last night, but Jemison faces charges of hindering
apprehension, unsworn falsification and false report in which someone was
falsely incriminated, according to Pennsylvania court records.
Charges filed in HACC gun incident
Frank Cozzoli June 22, 2007
It wasn't until after Horasio Miller got in trouble at Harrisburg Area
Community College that his neighbors on Green Street in Susquehanna Twp.
started to come forward, police said. Miller, 42, of the 3700 block of
Green Street, was committed involuntarily for a mental evaluation after an
incident early Tuesday afternoon in which city police said they found him
inside HACC's Cooper Union Building with a 9 mm pistol.
Today, Susquehanna Twp. police got warrants for Miller's arrest, charging
him with simple assault by physical menace, theft of services and a
wiretapping violation, said Chief Rob Martin. Since Miller was
committed, police have gotten calls from his neighbors concerning his
behavior, Martin said. "In the prior weeks, they were too afraid to
call," he said. Martin said police were told Miller had pointed a
gun at his landlord sometime in the past few weeks. Police also served a
search warrant on Miller's apartment today, where they found evidence that
someone had "hacked" into the telephone box at the building and was
getting free service, Martin said. Martin said police also recovered
evidence that Miller had been listening in on phone conversations of other
tenants in the building. Martin said Miller has not been released from
the mental evaluation. "Whenever he's released, he will be released right
into our custody," the chief said.
10 charged with underage drinking
Tom Bowman June 14, 2007
Ten people under the age of 21 were arrested at a party in Susquehanna Twp.
at 1:41 a.m. on June 2 and charged with underage drinking, a summary offense,
according to court papers. Police made the arrests at a home in the 1400
block of Pelham Road. Of those arrested, four were 20 years old, five
were 19, and one was 18. They were issued non-traffic citations through
District Judge Raymond Shugars' office and fined $271 each.
Man on bicycle sought in daylight burglaries
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Susquehanna Twp. police report two daylight burglaries in the past
week. Police Chief Robert A. Martin said both were in the uptown area, one
in the 3300 block of North Second Street and the other in the 3800 block of
North Sixth Street. Police said witnesses reported that the man was riding
a bicycle and could be knocking on doors looking to do yard work. Police
described the man as a white male, in his late 20s to mid-30s, about 6 feet tall
and with a husky build. He is clean-shaven and balding, police said.
Anyone who sees or hears anything suspicious can call the Susquehanna Twp.
police at 652-8265 or the anonymous tip line at 909-TIPS. There is Crime
Stopper reward money available for information leading to an arrest, police
said.
Registration check yields stolen car
Tom Bowman June 11, 2007
An officer ran a random registration check on the car in front of him
Friday afternoon and found that the car was stolen from the city of
Harrisburg, Susquehanna Twp. police said. Police said they stopped the car and
found marijuana. Police arrested Jermaine Talliaferro, 20 of the 200
block of Reily Street, and Kevin Burney, 18, of the 2100 block of Logan
Street, both in Harrisburg. The two were charged with possession of marijuana,
possession of marijuana and conspiracy to commit theft. Talliaferro was
placed in Dauphin County Prison in lieu of bail and Burney was released on
bail.
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