A late Monday night fire damaged a Lehigh County home. The fire began around 10 o'clock Monday night in an attached garage and quickly spread to a home on Chestnut Street in Upper Milford Township. There's no word of any injuries or what may have sparked the fire, which remains under investigation.
State police say an Easton man tried to set his former friend's house on fire in Northampton County. 30-year-old Chaz Wrobel allegedly set a deck on fire in the 1800 block of Ridge Road in Upper Mount Bethel Township. The homeowner and his wife woke up to loud noises coming from their garage around 9:30 Sunday night. They went outside and found Wrobel, who police describe as the victim's former friend, stoking a fire on the lower staircase of their wooden deck and lighting cardboard with a lighter. The victim confronted him and Wrobel fled, but later returned after firefighters and police were at the scene. He tried to get past authorities but was arrested without incident.
An Allentown man is in custody after police caught him sleeping in a car with a loaded gun on his lap. Ramon Maldonado was placed in Lehigh County Jail Monday on weapons charges. Police say they spotted Maldonado sleeping inside a vehicle on East Cedar Street with a loaded gun on his lap. Upon further inspection, police say they found a second gun in a bag inside the car. Maldonado allegedly failed a breath test and was intoxicated at the time of his arrest.
A Northampton County man faces charges of dousing his girlfriend with a pot of boiling water. Bangor police responded to a South Main Street home Sunday after a 911 hang-up during which they reportedly heard a woman screaming. The victim told officers her boyfriend, Michael Davidson, threw a pot of boiling water at her while arguing, scalding her face, neck, chest and legs. The victim was hospitalized and Davidson was arrested on several charges.
Two Poconos men are charged with supplying the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a man in April in Mount Pocono. 47-year-old Ronald Ehrens, of Blakeslee, and 27-year-old Jonathan Nesbit, of Pocono Summit, are in Monroe County Jail under $500,000 bail each. Police say Nesbit gave the heroin to Ehrens, who in turn delievered to to Jai Dee Ortiz, who was pronounced dead a short while after using the drug.
The murder rate in Philadelphia continues to jump past last year's statistics. 152 homicides have been recorded in the city so far this year. Only 136 murders had occurred by this date a year ago, representating a 12-percent increase in murders. There were 349 murders in Philadelphia 2018, the most since 2017.
New Jersey residents will be able to pick up a dose of an opioid overdose reversal drug at no cost today. The state Poison Control Center says New Jerseyans can anonymously obtain Naloxone at participating pharmacies all day today. No prescription, payment, insurance or even name will be needed. The U.S. Surgeon General says Naloxone is a safe antidote that can save a life when given in time.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is speaking out after fellow Democrats in the legislature rejected his proposed tax on millionaires. Murphy expressed concerns about revenues after his $38.7 billion budget was approved without the tax Monday in several committees ahead of a planned full vote on Thursday. Murphy says while the loss of funding will force New Jersey to dip into its reserves, he's still willing to work with lawmakers to come up with something better. The Democrats' revised spending plan also does not include taxes on guns and higher fees for bear hunting permits, which Murphy had wanted.
Another American tourist is dead after vacationing in the Dominican Republic. A 55-year-old New Jersey man was found dead in his room Thursday at a resort in the northern part of the country. Jason Allen is the man's brother and says the family called for a wellness check after not hearing from him. "The maid opens the door, screams and slams the door. My brother is on the floor, dead, between his room and the bathroom," Allen says. His brother is the ninth American to die mysteriously and suddenly while visiting the Dominican Republic. The string of deaths stretches back several months and the deaths aren't isolated to one location. Toxicology results for several of the victims are still pending.
Three commercial pilots are reporting lasers are being pointed their way while flying over New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A flight traveling to LaGuardia Airport from Atlanta noted a green laser in his cockpit last Saturday and then two more planes heading to JFK from Los Angeles reported similar flashes while flying south of Lakewood. Federal law prohibits anyone pointing a laser at an aircraft.