DA: No Bail For Aiello In Wilkes-Barre Homicide Case

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE — The city man accused of shooting his wife to death last week is not eligible for bail, Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie J. Salavantis said this morning.

Vito J. Aiello, 48, who is recovering from what police say is a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face, was arraigned in his hospital bed Monday afternoon at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in PlainsTownship.  He was arraigned via teleconference on an open count of criminal homicide in the Thursday night slaying of Jane Aiello, 47.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news//874428/DA:-No-bail-for-Aiello-in-homicide-case

Man Killed In Wilkes-Barre Shooting

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A party at 174 S. Grant St. in Wilkes-Barre came to an abrupt halt around 1:20 a.m. Sunday when shooting resulted in the death of a 24-year-old in the backyard.

Police were called to the house on a report of a “large fight with shots fired” and found Vaughn Kemp lying motionless in the backyard.

Kemp, a black man who lived a few blocks away on Park Avenue, was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy concluded Kemp died from multiple gunshot wounds, said Luzerne County Deputy Coroner Dan Hughes.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/658426/Man-killed-in-W-B-shooting

‘Drug Houses’ Seized Under Hazleton Plan

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Now that clearly sends a message that drug dealers aren’t welcome in Hazleton!

HAZLETON, PA — In addition to potentially losing her freedom, a woman arrested in a drug raid Friday also could lose her home under a new initiative of the Hazleton Police Department.

After police served a search warrant at 134 Pine Tree Road and arrested the three people inside, a city official posted a dark red sign in the front door window with the word “CONDEMNED.”

“The new idea actually has been on the books for quite some time — using the city’s nuisance property ordinance” to clean up neighborhoods, Police Chief Frank DeAndrea said at a press conference at City Hall Friday afternoon.  “And since the mayor has put code enforcement and the health department under the supervision of the police department, I thought we would attempt to take a new approach.”

When advised Thursday of the operation planned for Friday by his narcotics unit lieutenant, DeAndrea called Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis and requested her view on the city condemning the Pine Tree Road house “because it’s unsafe for human cohabitation, it’s a danger to the community,” DeAndrea said.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/394624/Drug-houses-seized-under-Hazleton-plan

Daylight Wilkes-Barre Shooting Shocks

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE – One man was hospitalized in serious condition after he was shot in the stomach Thursday afternoon on Coal Street.

The unidentified victim was involved in an argument shortly after noon and dared the shooter, a witness said.

The shooting happened hours after police on an early-morning patrol heard gunshots and found one man dead and another seriously injured with a head wound about a mile away near a bar on Scott Street.

Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said she could neither confirm nor deny that the shootings were connected.  But she added, “We do not believe these are random acts of violence.”

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Daylight-city-shooting-shocks,253030