News Headlines

PILOT KILLED IN ULTRALIGHT AIRPLANE CRASH

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:12:00 GMT

A Clarksburg man was killed last night in the crash of his ultra-light airplane in Young Township. 64-year-old Michael “Mickey” Grguric was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:25 PM by Indiana County Chief Deputy Coroner Jerry Overman, who said the cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma.

Overman says Grguric was practicing touch-and-go maneuvers when the plane evidently clipped some trees as it was gaining altitude. It went down at around 8:30 PM in a stand of pine trees off Church Street in McIntyre. State police said it was a one-person open cockpit plane – essentially a glider with an engine.

Saltsburg and Coal Run firefighters were called to the scene last night, and the Civil Air Patrol has secured the area. The Federal Aviation Administration will be on the scene today and will serve as lead investigator into the cause of the fatal crash.

REA PLANS OUTAGES TODAY

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:42:00 GMT

Officials with REA Energy say there will be planned power outages today for system upgrades and maintenance in northern Indiana County and in Jefferson County.

The outage will begin at 9 AM and last about four hours for REA customers in Canoe Township, Banks Township and Rossiter in Indiana County. Other areas affected by the outage are Gaskill and Bell Townships in Jefferson County, along with Johnsonburg/Smithport, Winslow, Hillman, and Cloe.

NEW ALEX WOMAN CAUGHT WITH HEROIN, CRACK

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:37:00 GMT

A New Alexandria woman is facing drug charges and a Blairsville man with whom she was traveling has been turned over to Indiana County authorities on a bench warrant.

21-year-old Lashonda Dollison of Route 981 was taken into custody at the Sheetz in New Alex last Thursday. Police acted on a tip from a confidential informant that she would be traveling in a van with two men and would likely have drugs. She consented to a search by the troopers and they found 96 stamp bags of heroin and three to five grams of crack cocaine in her pants.

Dollison told police the drugs were hers. She’s charged with two felony counts of possession with intent to deliver and three misdemeanor counts of possesion. She pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver in 2011 and was sentenced to 11-and-a-half to 23 months in prison.

32-year-old Eric J. Murphy of Blairsville was handed over to Indiana County authorities. He was the driver of the van and does not face charges in the drug case. Murphy’s record shows numerous convictions for a variety of offenses in court cases going back to 2005. The latest warrant is not detailed in online court records.

The other man in the van was not charged.

INDIANA MAN CHARGED WITH RAPING WOMAN

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:00:00 GMT

An Indiana man has been charged with raping a woman on Saturday afternoon at an apartment in the 500 block of Philadelphia Street.

33-year-old Rory Green is charged with rape, invountary deviate sexual intercourse, and sexual assault. Indiana Borough police were summoned to the Indiana Regional Medical Center after the woman went there. She told them Green had raped her in her apartment. Police uncovered other corroborating evidence against Green, and District Judge George Thachik issued an arrest warrant. Green turned himself in at the borough police station and was taken to the Indiana County Jail.

Green has a criminal history in Indiana County, including being charged with recklessly endangering, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, and related offenses in 2011. He plea bargained to simple assault and spent some time in jail. Most recently, he was charged with harassment last October. He has been through the court system for various offenses eight times since 2005.

Green will have a preliminary hearing next Tuesday before Judge Thachik.

41-YEAR-OLD MAN WITH TEEN GIRLFRIEND FACING NEW CHARGES

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:31:00 GMT

A 41-year-old Kittanning man already facing charges for stashing his 15-year-old girlfriend in a Shelocta apartment has been arrested on new charges that he has been exchanging sexually explicit messages with her while he’s out on bail and she’s in foster care.

Gregory Alan Shaffer was arrested in April for harboring the girl at the old Shelocta Hotel, where he kept an apartment. He has been out on $20,000 bond awaiting prosecution for concealing the whereabouts of a child, interference with custody of children, and corruption of minors.

The girl’s foster mother discovered sexually explicit messages between Shaffer and the girl, who’d used a Nintendo DS hand-held game unit that connects to the internet. Investigators found that Shaffer and the girl had exchanged more than 700 messages between May 10^th and the 21^st, some of which discussed plans to get married in October 2015, when she became of legal age.

New felony charges against Shaffer include solicitation for statutory sexual assault, solicitation for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, and obscene and other sexual materials and performances. He’s back in the Armstrong County Jail with bond set at $75,000.

IUP SIGNS NEW DEAL TO MONITOR WATER AT BEAVER RUN RESERVOIR

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:10:00 GMT

The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County has signed a new deal with IUP to test the water in the Beaver Run Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to more than 120,000 customers in five counties.

Students from IUP’s geography and geoscience departments have been collecting water samples from the reservoir for the past three years. The samples are analyzed by a third party to measure the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling in the 1,300-acre lake, its tributaries, streams, and drainage areas. In all, the students provide blanket coverage of over 5,000 acres which are the home of 37 active wells.

The authority paid the university $55,000 the first year and $75,000 last year. The new deal is for $100,000, reflecting the growing number of wells. Thirteen more are scheduled to be drilled this year. Consol Energy has the gas lease on the property.

There have been no chemical infiltrations discovered in the reservoir’s waters, and only a small amount of silt from construction activities.

ACCUSED OF CHILD PORN, MAN CLAIMS HE WAS SEARCHING FOR HIS CHILDREN

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:56:00 GMT

A New Alexandria area man has been charged with child pornography crimes, and he told investigators he did it in an effort to ensure that his two children have not fallen prey to the child porn industry.

58-year-old Benjamin Christner of Route 981 in Loyalhanna Township was charged Saturday with five counts of disseminating photos or film of child sex acts, five counts of child pornography, and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.

Christner is accused of sending ten child porn videos to an undercover agent of the state Attorney General’s office in April and May. His computer was seized on Friday and there were seventeen illegal child pornography files found on it.

Christner says he’s been searching for child porn since 2005, explaining that his children were taken away from him and put into foster care, and while “he doesn’t know or even believe” that they are being sexually abused, he doesn’t trust the foster care system or the state to protect them. He reportedly told authorities he knew it was illegal but thought it was okay because he was searching for his children.

He’s being held in the Westmoreland County Prison with bond set at $50,000.

INDIANA COUNTY TO RECEIVE OVER $600,000 IN MARCELLUS SHALE IMPACT MONEY

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:44:00 GMT

Indiana County is going to see over $600,000 coming in from Marcellus Shale Impact Fees.

According to State Senator Don White, his district, which includes all of Indiana County and portions of Armstrong, Butler and Clearfield counties, will receive over $6.7 million in impact fees. White said that while the revenue from Marcellus Shale Impact Fees will vary from year-to-year, it’s a big boost for the counties and the local municipalities. The money from the impact fees will be used for environmental protection efforts and help local and county governments that are most directly impacted by drilling operations.

Indiana County will see $679,011, with around $52,000 going to White Township, Indiana Borough receiving around $15,000, Homer City getting over $2,000, and Blairsville getting nearly $4,200.

PSP-INDIANA LOOKING FOR CAR STOLEN SATURDAY MORNING

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:39:00 GMT

Indiana-Based State Police are looking for a car that was stolen this morning.

The car in question was stolen this morning from a Pine Township home around 4:30 this morning. Police are looking for a Hummer H3 SUV with "Bone Collector" stickers on the back of the vehicle. The car has a PA License Plate GYJ-0025.

If you have seen it, call state police at 724-357-1960

GREENSBURG-BASED STATE POLICE CHARGE INDIANA PERSON WITH DRUG CHARGES

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:35:00 GMT

An Indiana County person has been charged in Westmoreland County with drug charges.

State Police in Greensburg have not identified the person by name, but they did say they were an Indiana County citizen 46 years old. Police say during a traffic stop on May 2^nd around 8:50 in the evening, police had stopped a car for a traffic stop, and the Indiana County Citizen, who was riding in the car at the time, was illegally in possession of controlled substances.

As of right now, the investigation is continuing.