Failed Norristown Condos Still A Burden To Buyers

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

Terry Derby had to surf on seven different couches. Ellen Frank was turned down for credit cards and had trouble leasing a car. Ryan Schofield figures he might never again be able to buy a house.

Home ownership was not supposed to be like this. Instead of buying a haven, five Norristown condominium owners say they wound up with a horror.

The residents are left fighting for their credit ratings and some sort of compensation.

It’s a years-long saga – one yet to end – that spurred changes in the way the seat of Montgomery County monitors construction projects. But that offers little help to the people caught in a financial and legal tangle not of their own making.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140728_Failed_Norristown_condos_still_a_burden_to_buyers.html#sRoLYajfK86r2qPy.99

2 Arrested In Pottstown Murder

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

POTTSTOWN, PA — Two men were arrested Friday for the murder of Steven Mitchell, who was found dead in his car on June 5 in the 400 block of Jefferson Avenue.

John Anthony Parson Jr., 18, of Pottstown, and Tyron Joab Witherspoon, 22, of Philadelphia, both face murder, robbery and conspiracy charges, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Parson was arrested Friday morning in Lower Pottsgrove and Witherspoon was arrested in Philadelphia, the D.A.’s office said.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, a witness told police Mitchell was shot in Liberty Alley during a transaction where a group of people intended to buy crack cocaine and a 9 mm handgun.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140613/2-arrested-in-pottstown-murder

Assaulted Officers Testify About Incident Outside Pottstown Club (Video)

Location of Lower Pottsgrove Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LOWER POTTSGROVE TOWNSHIP, PA — Two men who allegedly assaulted two Pottstown Police officers who were attending to a shooting victim are headed to Montgomery County court.

Chadd Watson, 23, and Brooklyn Aiken, 22, both of Pottstown, are accused of assaulting two officers outside the Montgomery Elks Club on Walnut Street in Pottstown on Feb. 2 around 2:30 a.m.

The two accused men appeared in front District Judge Edward C. Kropp Sr. and a full courtroom Friday morning.

Officers from the borough police department lined the back wall of the courtroom and took up several rows of seats while family and friends of Watson and Aiken filed in. There were so many supporters for both sides that several people were asked to leave by the judge and told to wait in the lobby.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140221/assaulted-officers-testify-about-incident-outside-pottstown-club-video

1 Charged In Pottstown Shooting; Details Of Melee Released

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

POTTSTOWN, PA — Police confirmed charges Tuesday against a man suspected in Sunday’s early-morning shooting incident as court documents revealed details in the subsequent melee.

Theodore Cosiouse Arnold, 31, of Pottstown, was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder as well as six felony counts of aggravated assault, six misdemeanor counts of simple assault, and other misdemeanor offenses including making terroristic threats, possessing an instrument of crime and recklessly endangering another person.

Paperwork indicates the charges were filed Sunday, but Pottstown Police Capt. Robert Thomas said Arnold was not in police custody as of yet.

Arnold was arrested in October 2012 in Pottstown for misdemeanor assault charges but those were dismissed less than a month later, a court docket indicated.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140204/1-charged-in-pottstown-shooting-details-of-melee-released

Pottstown Man Charged With Robbing High Street Bank Twice In One Month

LOWER POTTSGROVE TOWNSHIP, PA — The man accused of robbing the National Penn Bank on East High Street in Pottstown made his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon.

Christopher Lee Blount, 37, of Pottstown, was charged with two counts of felony robbery, two counts of felony conspiracy to commit robbery and multiple misdemeanors, according to court paperwork.

Blount, who was arrested Tuesday night, appeared in court wearing a light blue paper jumpsuit and black flip-flops.

A former employee at Jake’s Wayback Burger, Blount had the same mode of operation for both bank robberies, police said.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20130919/pottstown-man-charged-with-robbing-high-street-bank-twice-in-one-month

COPS: Tamaqua Adults Use Kids To Steal From Upper Hanover Wal-Mart

Location of Upper Hanover Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER HANOVER TOWNSHIP, PA — State police arrested two Tamaqua adults for allegedly taking $583.23 in merchandise from the Wal-Mart on the 600 block of Gravel Pike on Aug. 15 at 5:42 p.m.

Store security saw Samantha Lynn Wagenhurst, 30, of Tamaqua, and Carlos Martinez, 29, of Tamaqua, allegedly placed numerous electronic items and DVDs into a shopping cart.  The pair allegedly instructed one of the children to push the shopping car past all points of sale and continue out of the store.

The 13-year-old child walked past all points of sale and was stopped by store security.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130826/NEWS01/130829750/cops-tamaqua-adults-use-kids-to-steal-from-upper-frederick-wal-mart

Pottstown Police Find 932 Bags Of Heroin In Apartment Of Parolee

Editor’s note:  Earth to borough council. You better get a grip on the pervasive drug problem in town!

POTTSTOWN —Police arrested a man on parole after they found a gun and more than 900 bags of heroin in his apartment.

Dashawn Smith, 22, of Pottstown was charged with one count of felony intent to manufacture or deliver and one count of felony possession of a firearm after Pennsylvania State Parole agents searched his Elm Street apartment on June 19.

During the search of Smith’s apartment, officers found a large yellow plastic bag under the kitchen sink that contained “numerous bundles” of red wax bags, and white rice, police said.

Read more:   http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130627/NEWS01/130629368/police-find-932-bags-of-heroin-in-apartment-of-parolee

Skippack Teen Charged In Brutal Stabbing Of Girlfriend: Update

Location of Skippack Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SKIPPACK TOWNSHIP, PA — A 16-year-old reportedly stabbed his 17-year-old girlfriend to death while breaking up with her Saturday night on the Skippack Trail near Palmer Park.

Tristan Brian Arthur Stahley stabbed Julianne Siller multiple times before hiding her body in the woods off the trail, according to an affidavit filed by the state police in Skippack and the Montgomery County Detectives.

Siller, of Royersford, had been going out with Stahley “off and on” since January, the affidavit said.

Stahley, of Skippack, was arrested Saturday night and charged with murder of the first degree, murder of the third degree and criminal possession of a weapon, court documents said.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130527/NEWS01/130529382/-skippack-teen-charged-in-brutal-stabbing-of-girlfriend#full_story

16-Year-Old Charged In Stabbing Death Of Girlfriend In Skippack Township

Location of Skippack Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Skippack teen has been charged with stabbing to death his 17-year-old girlfriend in a wooded area of the Skippack Trail Saturday night.

Tristan Stahley, 16, was arraigned Sunday on charges including first degree murder in the death of Julianne Siller, said Kevin Steele, the Montgomery County first assistant district attorney.

According to court documents, Stahley and the victim, Siller, a high school senior who lived in Royersford, were at Stahley’s home on Rittenhouse Lane Saturday when Stahley’s mother overheard the pair arguing.

Soon after – and apparently reconciled – they left the house and drove in Siller’s car to nearby Palmer Park in Skippack Township, where they argued again as they walked along the trail.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20130527_16-year-old_charged_in_stabbing_death_of_girlfriend_in_Montco.html

Official: West Pottsgrove Murder Victim Was Shot In The Back

Location of West Pottsgrove Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WEST POTTSGROVE TOWNSHIP — In the day following the shocking murder of a 19-year-old taken by gunpoint from his West Pottsgrove home, who exactly that young man was remains a complicated question.

Kareem Ali Borowy died in the grass at the side of the 2100 block of Sanatoga Station Road Sunday around 2:30 p.m., not long after the abduction from the house on the 1200 block of Manatawny Street.

Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele said an autopsy conducted Monday morning determined Borowy died from a gunshot wound to the back.

The manner of death was ruled a homicide, he said.

Several readers told The Mercury that Kareem was the adopted son of Ruth Borowy, who reportedly adopted Kareem and his three siblings — two sisters and a brother — out of Philadelphia and brought them to the Boyertown area.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130506/NEWS01/130509526/official-west-pottsgrove-murder-victim-was-shot-in-the-back#full_story

Cops: Driver Crashes Near Pottstown While Checking On Groceries

Location of Lower Pottsgrove Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  I don’t know, maybe a cooler would have been a good idea….

LOWER POTTSGROVE — A driver struck two other vehicles Tuesday night because he was checking to see if the steaks he bought were still frozen, police said.

After the accident, the man fled the scene and ran through the Home Depot parking lot off Armand Hammer Boulevard, according to police.

The suspect was found a short time later with the help of witnesses and family members.

Zsolt Michael Kohalmi, 25, no known address, is accused of hitting two vehicles on Armand Hammer Boulevard around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday then running from the scene, police said.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130328/NEWS01/130329385/cops-driver-crashes-near-pottstown-while-checking-on-groceries#full_story

Stores Raided In Pottstown Food Stamp Fraud Investigation

POTTSTOWN — Two people were arrested after police served search warrants at three borough stores in connection with a fraud investigation involving food stamp access cards.

Adbu Aljash, 38, of Pottstown, and Kuldip Kaur, 40, of King of Prussia, were both charged with felony corrupt organization and other related charges, according to court documents.

Kaur worked at the Quick Mart Grocery Store on 55 E. High Street. Customers were able to buy cigarettes, non-food items and could receive cash back on their government-issued ACCESS cards, according to court records.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General had been monitoring Kaur and the store since last August 2012, according to the police report.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130316/NEWS01/130319489/video-stores-raided-in-pottstown-food-stamp-fraud-investigation#full_story

Montgomery County Prison’s $23.5 Million Expansion Completed

In an effort to eliminate overcrowding at the Montgomery County Prison, a new 512-bed addition has been constructed.  The new wing is completed and pending final inspection before prisoners can move in.

The new wing is a departure from a traditional cell block.  Prisoners will be housed in a dormitory setting, without bars.  Bunk-beds are placed along walls in large open rooms.  The new wing is for nonviolent offenders.  Of course, there are plenty of locked doors, guards and cameras.

The prison was built to house 1240 inmates.  It was then expanded and currently is home to about 1800 prisoners.