MCKEES ROCKS (KDKA) — Police have made an arrest in the murder of an Art Institute student.

Taivon Cunningham, 19, has been charged in the death of Malachi Urbini who was shot in McKees Rocks Sunday morning.

According to the criminal complaint, Urbini and a friend met Cunningham to trade him an iPod for heroin.

Urbini also had an iPad he was willing to trade.

About an hour after the initial meeting, Cunningham called the pair to Third Street in McKees Rocks where Urbini was shot.

He died at the hospital.

The criminal complaint does not identify Cunningham as the shooter. Police say he lured Urbini back to the alley where he was shot.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More McKees Rocks News
McKees Rocks Police
Allegheny County Homicide

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Police say they are looking at the parents of a 7-year-old boy who brought nearly 20 stamp bags of heroin to school and gave some to his classmates.

Investigators believe the parents were the source of the drugs, but it will take time to substantiate the case.

Sources say police searched the home of the 7-year-old boy shortly after the heroin was found, but so far, they didn’t find any other trace of the heroin.

Meantime, police and school administrators say their focus is on the students at Quentin Roosevelt Elementary School in Carrick where the drugs were found.

“Developmentally, a 5 and 6-year-old – you try to keep things as simple as possible, answer their questions as honestly as possible and we began our day,” Vincent Lewandowski, principal of the elementary school, said.

Lewandowski doesn’t think most of the 180 pre-K through kindergarten students at the school fully understand that a classmate brought the highly-addictive street drug heroin into the school. But they do know now that the packets being passed out this week as magic tickets are anything but magical.

“We went over some rules again this morning about getting little packets or little gifts and that sometimes not everything that’s inside of them are gifts and they can be very dangerous,” Lewandowski said.

Police don’t believe the 7-year-old who brought the packets to school in a backpack had any idea there were drugs inside.

But the police investigation is now two-fold – where did he get the drugs and who did he give the “magic tickets” to?

“We have our sex assault family crisis team that will initiate an investigation too because we have to do some interviews – some follow up interviews of the children at the school who may have come in contact with the young man, may have been given some of the little packets,” Pittsburgh Police Assistant Chief Maurita Bryant said.

The student involved will most likely face disciplinary because drugs knowingly or not on school property violates the student code.

Police don’t believe any of the students actually opened the packets, but a teacher’s aide did, signaling to authorities that both students and staff need better education about street drugs.

Police say they’re also working with Children Youth and Families in this case because if in fact there was heroin in the 7-year-old lived, there could be other safety concerns.

Stay with KDKA for more on this developing story.

RELATED LINKS:
Pittsburgh Police
Pittsburgh Roosevelt
7-Year-Old Gave Heroin To Classmates
More Local News

FINLEYVILLE (KDKA) — State Police and paramedics were called to a home on Lutes Road in Finleyville, Washington County, because two little boys believed that their parents were dead.

Wally Ferry, 45, and 26-year-old Kimberly Miller are the parents of two boys, ages 6 and 7.

“They need taken care of the proper way,” Rose Ferry, the boys’ grandmother, said. “They don’t need to be around parents with problems.”

When the call came in to 911 dispatch around 8:30 p.m. last Friday, on the other end of the line was the voice of a 7-year-old child stating that he found his parents in the upstairs bathroom dead.

Ferry arrived to find the house filled with emergency personnel.

Wally Ferry and Kimberly Miller were discovered lying on the floor of the bedroom and adjoining bathroom. According to police, both were unconscious. Nearby, police found a baggie containing 11 syringes.

Once revived, Miller said they had overdosed on heroin.

“I said, ‘Shame on both of you, shame on both of you,’” Rose said. “ ‘You put these children’s lives in jeopardy.’”

The 7-year-old left a note for her. “Please read. I love you grandma. I always will. Do not forget to call. Save up money so we can live with you.”

The boys are now in the custody of Children and Youth Services. Their parents remain in the Washington County Jail.

Ferry and Miller will stand trial on drug and child endangerment charges.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Washington County News

FOLLOW US
KDKA On Facebook
KDKA On Twitter
Follow KDKA Personalities

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A woman is facing charges for allegedly trafficking heroin throughout the South Hills and parts of the city of Pittsburgh.

Police arrested 26-year-old Sarah Mangan, of Pleasant Hills, on Wednesday.

Investigators say they found 3,000 bags of heroin and close to $20,000 cash when they searched her Torwood Lane home in June.

Detectives then kept Mangan under surveillance.

Police departments from around the area were involved, including McKees Rocks, Plum, Moon Township, Swissvale and Stowe Township.

She allegedly distributed more than a kilo of heroin over a six month period.

More arrests are “imminent,” according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office.

Stay with KDKA for the latest developments.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News

O’HARA TOWNSHIP (KDKA) — It’s a scourge that cuts across all income levels, ages and genders and it’s hitting very hard in many of our middle-class and upper-class communities.

KDKA Investigator Andy Sheehan spoke with one family who wants to turn their tragedy into a positive by warning other parents to the danger signs.

Strolling into their home in an affluent section of O’Hara Township, Ron and Judi Owen seem to live a charmed existence and it was until they learned their 23-year-old daughter Sarah had died of a heroin overdose.

“It’s horrible being told that your child is no longer here, that she is gone,” Judi said.

The death of child is every parent’s worst nightmare, but even as fatal drug overdoses have become more common in the suburbs than in the inner city, there still were those who stayed away from Sarah’s funeral.

“We had friends, we had neighbors that didn’t want to be involved,” Ron said. “They didn’t want to associate with us because we had a daughter who died of a drug overdose like it was something that we did wrong and that has to change.”

“This disease doesn’t discriminate,” Neil Capretto with Gateway Rehabilitation said.

With heroin cheap, powerful and readily available and prescription drug abuse out of control, fatal overdoses have become an epidemic across all of Allegheny County, jumping from 110 to 220 10 years ago and remaining alarmingly high – 236 in 2008, 223 in 2009 and 226 last year.

“Overdose deaths in Allegheny County are the leading cause of accidental death – more than traffic fatalities and homicides put together,” Capretto said.

And yet the problem remains largely hidden from view and ignored.

“This problem is across America — inner-city, suburban, farms, rural areas and unless people admit that this is a problem, we need to deal with it head-on,” Ron said.

Today as they care for Sarah’s daughter, Taylor, they’ve established an organization called R.O.S.E.S. From Sarah which benefits single mothers in recovery as it seeks to help parents recognize addiction and intervene.

“Sitting in the corner over there and crying every day and forgetting her and our daughter and our granddaughter doesn’t fix anything, Ron says, “but if we can change this landscape – it’s not going to happen tomorrow, but I really believe in our lifetime we can make a difference.”

RELATED LINKS
Gateway Rehab
R.O.S.E.S. From Sarah
More Reports By Andy Sheehan

LOWER BURRELL (KDKA) — When he was shot, Officer Derek Kotecki was trying to apprehend 33-year-old Charles Post.

Police had been looking for Post since October 2, when he allegedly opened fire on his boss outside a hotel.

KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin reports that friends of Post say he talked about a so-called “hit list” over the last few weeks.

He told friends he was going to kill several people, including police officers and then himself.

“I have bullets left. He knew he was going to go to jail for the rest of his life and that he was gonna take people with him and save the last one for himself,” a friend of Post told KDKA-TV.

The haunted, crazed message friends of Charles Post say he was spreading around town in the last few weeks.

“He knew he was going to jail for a long time and that he wasn’t going to go down alone – that he was going to take other people with him,” the friend said.

A woman who has known Post since high school was so concerned she kept her own children inside.

“They go out with cellphones, with cash,” she said. “We know Charlie, we knew that if he was out there and he was starting to withdraw from drugs and getting more desperate that he would have grabbed one of the kids.”

She says Post talked about his drug addiction.

“Talked really profoundly about how his life spiraled due to drugs, starting with oxycodone leading into heroin,” she said.

“Because you saw a guy that looked extremely sad and now I see the pictures on the news and it’s madness,” she continued. “He looks absolutely insane.”

She said Post belonged in prison.

“He doesn’t get put away because I think the system looks at drug addicts like people that are killing themselves – that nobody else gets hurt,” she said.

“And I hope that this is a lesson in it that it’s usually the people that are doing nothing besides their job like Derek that get hurt by drugs. It is not a victimless crime.”

KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin reports Post had a 17-year criminal history, including 50 different incidents with 10 police departments.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Westmoreland County News

WILKINSBURG (KDKA) — Wilkinsburg Police today arrested two men who were trying to pawn stolen rings.

As it turned out, the two men are prime suspects in a string of jewelry store thefts in Pittsburgh, Ross, Robinson, Springdale and Blawnox.

The suspects were identified as 35-year-old Randy Staving and 26-year-old Jason Scimio, both from Bellevue.

Pittsburgh Police Lt. Kevin Kraus told KDKA-TV the suspects would walk into a jewelry store, ask to see a ring, or necklace, then snatch the jewelry and run off.

The William Penn Jewelry Store in Squirrel Hill was hit twice last week, once on Thursday, then again on Friday. No weapon was ever seen during the crimes.

Sources say the suspects told police they committed the crimes to support their heroin habits.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Wilkinsburg News

WEST END (KDKA) – Police arrested five people Friday after they found drugs and a stolen gun at a home in the West End.

According to investigators, police uncovered more than 450 bags of heroin, as well as drug paraphernalia and two guns in addition to the stolen gun.

The SWAT team was also called in, Pittsburgh police said.

Police said residents complained of a number of drug sales in the area, prompting police to search the home in the 1500-block of Crucible Street.

Charges for each person were not given, but they  include drug possession, conspiracy, and for some, possession of a firearm by a convict.

Those arrested have been identified as, Ryan Wade, 21, of the North Side; Deandre Debold, 20, of the West End; Jamie Smith, 22 of the West End; Tyrell Rankin, 22, of Sheraden; and Erica Moore, 26, who lived in the home that was searched.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Crafton Heights News

CHARLEROI (KDKA) — Thousands of dollar worth of heroin was recovered following a police chase and crash in Washington County.

There were two suspects inside a stolen vehicle that had a lot of heroin. One of the men surrendered while the other took off.

Several agencies, including Pennsylvania State Police, are looking for the missing suspect.

Charleroi Police Patrolman Michael Carsella pulled the car over at an Exxon station in Upper Speers late Monday night. The driver, Eric Brooks, of Monessen, surrendered and was later taken to jail.

Carcella says the passenger jumped into the driver’s seat and fled – driving at high speeds through a residential neighborhood. He eventually crashed into a telephone pole.

A K-9 officer found 300 stamped bags of suspected heroin in the stolen vehicle after it crashed. There was no sign of the suspect.

They have not released the name of the missing suspect.

Police say both men might be key players in a drug ring in Washington County.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Washington County News

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — There are new details on what’s being called a gang-related heroin ring.

Court documents are linking the alleged members of the East Hills Bloods to other crimes across the area.

“There crime spree included robberies, home invasions, intimidation and killing,” said U.S. Attorney David Hickton.

Federal prosecutors say during an 18-month period, beginning in Jan. of 2010, there have been far too many violent crimes in the East Hills section of Pittsburgh.

They blame much of the problem on a group known as the East Hills Bloods or associates of gang members.

Now, 14 men – many of them alleged gang members – have been charged with violating federal narcotics or firearms laws.

“They are part of an organized group of individuals who represent, in the East Hills and Wilkinsburg community, a grave threat to public safety and to law abiding citizens,” said Hickton.

One man who lives in the East Hills, who did not what to be identified, believes lack of parental oversight is the root of the problem.

“No discipline at all in the neighborhood,” he said. “I mean, like I said, you see very few parents, you know, that will stand behind their children and try to keep them in order or whatever. But most of them running around here, they’re rouges; they run around here rogue; they do what they want to do.”

Federal investigators say the list of crimes connected to the East Hills Bloods amount to more than two dozen, among them a July 2010 shooting incident, which claimed the life of 24-year-old Arika Haynesworth.

She was shot and killed when three men broke into an apartment described by officials as a drug safe house. Authorities say the intruders wanted to rob her boyfriend, an alleged member of the East Hills Bloods.

The 14 men in custody were charged in eight separate but related indictments on Thursday. The indictments were unsealed today.

RELATED LINKS:
Authorities Break Up Suspected Local Drug Ring (4/20/12)
More Local News

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Six suspects are in custody after a series of vehicle break-ins.

Smallman Street in the Strip District was a prime spot for a group of thieves. They’d normally strike in the early afternoon, targeting vehicles displaying valuables inside including cell phones, purses and GPS devices.

Police say the six suspects broke into as many as 150 cars throughout Pittsburgh over the summer.

“If you had a laptop, GPS, or iPod sitting in plain view, [the suspects] say it was the owners own stupidity that they deserved what they got,” Detective William Churilla says.

Once the group obtained the items, the ring leader Anthony Meiglitz, sold the stolen items at local flea markets. Meiglitz then used the money to pay his cohorts off.

“He was feeding them Heroin or a small amount of money to fuel them to continue to do this every day,” Detective Churilla says. “They were getting orders from drug dealers on special radios and things they wanted for their cars.”

Police have two men in custody and are looking for the others.

Police are advising car owners to keep valuables out of sight and came up with a campaign called, “Remove It or Lose It.”

RELATED LINKS:
More Local News
More Latest News

PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) — KDKA Radio’s Chris Moore talks with Dr. Peter Luongo, the executive director of the Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addiction.

They discuss substance abuse.

Dr. Luongo talks in depth about what people can do when they or someone they love has a drug addition.

Click the link below to listen to the full interview:

Listen to Chris Moore every Sunday from 4 p.m. to 9pm on NewsRadio 1020 KDKA.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A local drug rehabilitation expert wants people to be aware that marijuana in our area could have heroin in it.

Dr. Neil Capretto from Gateway Rehabilitation said, “I’ve heard three reports in the last 10 days of people saying there’s marijuana coming in from the Youngstown area that’s laced with heroin.”

He says heroin is now potent enough that needles aren’t needed. He says people can smoke it just as they smoke marijuana.

As to why dealers would mix a cheaper drug with a more expensive one, “it could be for a couple of reasons.”

“The marijuana dealer may be trying to spice up his marijuana to make it strong,” said Dr. Capretto.

He says there’s competition between dealers, and they could charge more for a mixture.

“Or a more sinister reason could be that they’re trying to recruit new people to be future heroin addicts,” he said.

Dr. Capretto says he’s been told that teenagers in middle and high schools are being targeted.

Dr. Capretto says he certainly doesn’t condone marijuana’s use by itself, either.

He says it’s particularly dangerous for teenagers with developing brains, but he says the marijuana/heroin mixture adds to potential problems.

RELATED LINKS:
More Local News
More David Highfield Reports

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – There was an all-out blitz Friday morning as police officers were busy rounding up known drug dealers in several local communities.

Police have been conducting undercover buys and investing for six months to develop a list of suspects wanted for selling heroin and crack cocaine.

To the unsuspecting 14 individuals on the list today, the knock on the door ultimately led to their arrest.

Several were picked up in McKees Rocks and surrounding areas and are accused of selling heroin and crack cocaine.

At one woman’s home in nearby Stowe Township, money, products used for the selling of drugs and a small amount of crack was discovered during the arrest.

A K-9 searched the basement of the building looking for additional drugs that may have been stored there as well.

“They did some control buys with her for suspected heroin,” Stowe Township Police Acting Chief Matthew Preininger said. “They’re just making our community that much worse. Just pick them up, clean it up, get them out of here, because it’s making Stowe Township intolerable for the good people who live here.”

This investigation in particular has been going on for several months. With the help of the District Attorney’s Narcotics Enforcement Task Team, officers rounded up as many as they could from the list of 14.

“We do not have 14 vacancies in McKees Rocks for drug dealers. And I hope the residents see the efforts that our officers and the DANET detectives are putting forth,” McKees Rocks Police Chief Robert Cifrulak said.

Chief Cifrulak said these drug investigations are always going on with the goal in mind to make the streets as safe as possible for the people who live there.

RELATED LINKS

More Local News
More McKees Rocks News
More Reports From Heather Abraham

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A local high school counselor was arrested on drug possession charges.

Police say 35-year-old Kelly Scherer was dealing heroin and sold the drugs to an undercover police officer.

Scherer was a guidance counselor at Central Catholic High School in Oakland.

According to a criminal complaint, police were tipped off by a neighbor who suspected Scherer was dealing drugs out of her Forest Hills apartment.

Police observed Scherer selling heroin on two occasions, as well as a third time to an undercover officer, they say.

Officials from the high school released a statement Friday addressing the incident.

“Scherer was on indefinite suspension from Central Catholic high School at the time of her arrest,” school officials said. “The suspension was due to unsatisfactory job performance. Today, we learned that Ms. Scherer was being investigated by the Pittsburgh police for issues unrelated to her employment at Central Catholic.”

So far, there is no indication that any students were involved in the alleged sales of heroin.

Scherer is currently in the Allegheny County Jail.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Police News

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A New Jersey man is in jail after allegedly trying to transport $20,000 worth of heroin to Pittsburgh.

Police say 33-year-old Rasheed McKenith of Newark, N.J. was arrested around 8 p.m. at the Greyhound Bus station downtown Tuesday.

McKenith had just arrived in Pittsburgh on an Amtrak train from Philadelphia when police conducting surveillance spotted him.

They say McKenith looked suspicious and followed him into a men’s bathroom, where he abandoned a book bag containing 2,000 stamped bags of heroin.

McKenith is in the Allegheny County Jail and faces charges of possession of heroin and intent to deliver.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Police News
More Reports From Brenda Waters

SAN YSIDRO, Calif. (KDKA) – A Pennsylvania woman’s trip south of the border ended in a very unusual arrest.

Court documents say 22-year-old Samantha Kurdilla, and James Perry were walking in the pedestrian area of the San Ysidro Port of Entry on January 15, when a narcotics dog signaled an alert to its handler.

According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court, the dog alerted to Kurdilla’s “groin area.”

Prosecutors allege that Kurdilla had a condom with 100 grams of cocaine inside her vaginal cavity.

Border Patrol agents say Kurdilla and Perry were walking hand in hand, and when they stopped the pair, Perry claimed, “I’m not with her.”

However, he later admitted he had bought the drugs in Tijuana and told her how to conceal them to get them into the U.S. the documents show.

Perry also reportedly confessed to having Kurdilla smuggle the drugs, so that he could resell the cocaine in the U.S.

The two defendants are in U.S. custody and face a charge of unlawful importation of a controlled substance.

In a report by the website, The Smoking Gun, they say Kurdilla is from Washington, Pennsylvania.

Kurdilla does have an extensive record in Pennsylvania, including drug and theft charges.

RELATED LINKS:
More Local News
Enter To Win An iPad In The KDKA-TV Like Us Contest

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Deputies say they have arrested two people at a Pittsburgh hotel, with 26-thousand bags of heroin.

Sheriff’s deputies were assisted by the Pittsburgh police in making the bust at the Comfort Inn along Steubenville Pike.

Deputies say they arrested 35-year-old Santino Drew, and 34-year-old Thomas Martinez at the hotel.

Inside their room deputies say they found approximately 26,000 stamp bags of heroin, which was broken into 520 bricks of heroin.

The drugs are valued at approximately $400,000.

Photo Credit: KDKA

Both of the men are charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy, and possession of a controlled substance.

Deputies say both men are from, Brunswick New Jersey.

RELATED LINKS:
More Local News
Join The Conversation On Our Facebook Page

GREENSBURG (KDKA) — Westmoreland County has seen a dramatic jump in heroin overdoses.

Last year, the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office reported more than 200 people died from overdosing on heroin.

Officials say there have been 16 more heroin-related deaths since the beginning of 2013.

This week has been especially bad.

“From Tuesday night through Thursday morning, we had six, possibly a seventh, overdose; and at least two of them we’re looking at mostly likely it’s going to be heroin,” said Ken Bacha, the Westmoreland County Coroner.

“Their typically unresponsive, they’re not breathing or breathing very poorly,” Dr. Christopher Clarkson, an emergency physician, said of the patients.

The coroner says one step they plan to take is starting an ARD program targeting people accused of crimes to support drug habits.

RELATED LINKS:
More Westmoreland County News

ROSCOE (KDKA) — Police are searching for a Washington County man who escaped police custody while he was in handcuffs.

Ramsey Hyslop was arrested at his Arthur Avenue home in Roscoe Tuesday night for possession with intent to sell and deliver heroin and prescription pain pills.

Hyslop was cuffed and put in the back of a police cruiser.

But when the investigating officer went inside for five minutes to gather evidence, police say Hyslop was able to somehow move his handcuffs to the front of his body and then shimmy out of a small window to the front of the police car.

“They’re [The handcuffs] double locked, so they won’t open or close without a key,” said Officer Mike Leasure, of the RESA Regional Police Department. “Never in my career have I seen this.”

Hyslop ran off and a passerby told police that a man had run from the car.

Police went on a several hour manhunt for the escapee.

Anyone with information on Hyslop’s whereabouts is being asked to call police.

RELATED LINKS:
More Washington County News
More Local News