UPDATED: Police Officer Injured In Pottstown Traffic Stop, Suspect Shot By Police After Chase

Pottstown, PA – A Lower Pottsgrove Township police officer was injured and a suspect was shot Thursday night after a traffic stop gone awry.

The officer was making the traffic stop on East High Street in the borough at approximately 8:45 p.m. when a male suspect driving a blue BMW sport utility vehicle did not yield to police signals. The pursuit began at East High Street and Heritage Drive and continued westbound into the 1400 block of High Street where the officers had gotten the vehicle cornered and stopped, according to Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Michael Foltz.

The officer, whom police have not yet named, then got out of his car to approach the driver.The driver then allegedly hit the officer with the car and the officer began shooting at the vehicle, Foltz said.

Read more:

http://www.pottsmerc.com/20150417/updated-police-officer-injured-in-pottstown-traffic-stop-suspect-shot-by-police-after-chase

Woman Shot In Pottstown; Police Investigating

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

Editor’s note:  With the warm weather comes increased crime in this neighborhood.  I think it’s time for a plan instead of a band-aid.

POTTSTOWN — A young woman was shot Sunday afternoon, causing Buttonwood Alley between Washington and Warren streets to be closed for several hours due to the police investigation.

Pottstown Police and Goodwill Ambulance responded at around 5:15 p.m. to the home fronting the 500 block of East High Street.

It’s unclear who or where the alleged shooter is.

Patrol officers were unable to comment on the case and deferred questions to Pottstown Police detectives. They did not return calls as of press time.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140413/woman-shot-in-pottstown-police-investigating

2 Of 3 Men Charged With Attempted Reading Murder Still At Large

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

Two of the three men charged earlier this month with attempted murder and conspiracy in the 2011 ambush shooting of a man in his car in northeast Reading remain at large, authorities said Friday.

Police said they are seeking information on the whereabouts of Luis Jimenez Jr., 31, of the 1200 block of Pike Street and Jonathan Gonzalez, 27, of the 600 block of Bingaman
Street.

Criminal Investigator Eric B. Driesbach on Nov. 8 obtained arrest warrants for them and a third man, Tai-Mare L. Mercado, 24, in the June 22, 2011, shooting at 11th and Spring streets. Investigators said eyewitness accounts and DNA evidence recovered from sweatshirts that the suspects left behind while running from the scene linked the men to the shooting.

Police arrested Mercado on Nov. 12 in his residence of the 500 block of Lancaster Avenue.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=520556

Subject Of Manhunt Captured Near Morgantown

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After eluding a massive manhunt in southern Berks County for hours and hours, a cold, hungry and tired truck driver must have been drawn by the outdoor security light of the Chestnut Hill Field Archers clubhouse, the club president said Friday.

Larry Buzzard, club president, said there’s a hollow that the wanted trucker could have followed from the spot on Interstate 176 where he crashed Thursday morning and ran from police. That hollow leads to a ridge from which he would have seen the light on the clubhouse, near the Conestoga Landfill in New Morgan, shining like a beacon in a sea of darkness.

“It can be seen for miles,” said Buzzard, who lives in Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County.

State police said Harold A. Davis Jr. broke into the clubhouse on Quarry Road and spent the night.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=519195

Two Arrested In Fatal Reading Shooting

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading police captured a pair of suspects more than 12 hours apart in the fatal shooting last week of a man investigators said they planned to rob.

Leonardo J. Mojica-Carrion, 20, of the 1100 block of North Ninth Street was apprehended late Tuesday morning at Ninth and Robeson streets.

On Monday evening, detectives arrested Estiben Manso, 16, also of the 1100 block of North Ninth Street, following a chase through parts of the city.

Detectives said he ran from them when they spotted him in the 200 block of North Ninth Street. He was captured in the 800 block of Green Street.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=514019

Man Shot Multiple Times In Reading

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A man was shot multiple times Friday night in a parking lot on a side street off Ninth and Douglass streets, city police said.

Patrol division Lt. Brian Cole said the victim was shot in the torso about 9:30 p.m.

The victim, whom police did not identify, was transported to Reading Hospital by paramedics with the city fire department.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=513417

Healthy Ways To fight Truancy In Reading Aired

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are students in the Reading School District who accrue 10 absence excuses from a parent and 40 from doctors in one school year.

So health care officials were urged Friday to be on the lookout for such students and not to feel pressured to issue them absence excuses.

Students are allowed to return to school without such notices, but the absences will be recorded as unexcused, said Anne Fisher, supervisor of the school district’s nurses.

“They don’t need a note to come back,” she said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=509416

Man Ambushed, Stabbed Ex-Girlfriend, Reading Police Say

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading police are looking for a man they say stabbed and repeatedly slashed his estranged girlfriend in her home while her two young children were there.

Bladimir Delvalle, 32, whose last known address is the 1000 block of Locust Street, was charged with attempted murder and related charges in the assault of the 33-year-old woman Monday night in the 1300 block of Perkiomen Avenue.

Senior District Judge Gloria W. Stitzel signed an arrest warrant for Delvalle early Tuesday in Reading Central Court. He remained at large Tuesday.

The woman suffered several cuts on her face, a deep cut to her left forearm, a cut on her right knee and shallow puncture wounds on her back, investigators said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=505984

Reading Police Seek Suspect In Stabbing

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

Reading police are looking for a man they say stabbed and repeatedly slashed his estranged girlfriend in her home while her two young children were there.

Bladimir Delvalle, 32, whose last known address is the 1000 block of Locust Street, was charged with attempted murder and related charges in the assault of the 33-year-old woman Monday night in the 1300 block of Perkiomen Avenue.

Senior District Judge Gloria W. Stitzel signed an arrest warrant for Velvalle early Tuesday in Reading Central Court, and he remained at large Tuesday afternoon.

The woman suffered several cuts on her face, a deep cut to her left forearm, a cut on her right knee and shallow puncture wounds on her back, investigators said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=505984

Expansion Prescribed For Reading Hospital

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading Health System plans to build a $354 million clinical building on its West Reading campus, a move hospital officials say could keep more Berks County patients in the area for their medical care.

“What we’re really doing is upgrading what we currently have and bringing some of our facilities into the 21st century,” said Mark McNash, vice president of support services for the Reading Health System.  “We’re excited to offer state-of-the-art surgical facilities for the community.”

Construction of the eight-story building on Seventh Avenue and Parkside Drive will begin in September.  It will take three years to complete, McNash said.

Health system officials say they are undertaking the ambitious and expensive project because the hospital building is outdated in some respects.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=500297

Reading Area Ranked 10th In Country In Heart-Attack Rate

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

Doctors in the Reading area scrambled to treat several patients who suffered heart attacks last weekend.

Berks Cardiologists treated six people for heart attacks at the area’s two local hospitals, said Dr. Andrew Waxler, a cardiologist with the Spring Township-based practice.

The number of heart attacks was higher than usual, but hardly unprecedented, he said.

“I can’t say we’re noticing more heart attacks recently,” Waxler said.  “But I can say we are noticing a lot of them.”

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=495585

Man Found Shot To Death In Reading Alley

A man believed to be in his early twenties was found shot to death early this morning in a rear alley in northeast Reading by a city police officer who was investigating a report of a possible burglary, detectives said.

The officer went to the 1100 block of Birch Street just after 4 and found a broken window in the rear door facing the concrete alley that runs parallel to both Birch and North 12th streets, investigators said.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=491034

Man Hospitalized After Slashing In Pottstown

Editor’s note:  This is a very bizarre story!  Don’t they have adequate entertainment in the Bronx?  

POTTSTOWN — Police are looking for help from the community to find a suspect who sliced a man’s neck Tuesday night at the Montgomery Elk’s Lodge.

Borough police responded to the lodge at 605 Walnut St. at 11:10 p.m. after they received a call about a man being stabbed.

The victim, Fuquan Wilson, of Bronx, N.Y., suffered a laceration wound to his neck but did not tell police who caused the injury.

According to police, officers attempted to administer first aid to Wilson but he was combative and uncooperative. Police also said that Wilson had to be sedated when emergency services arrived.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130619/NEWS01/130619135/man-hospitalized-after-slashing-in-pottstown-charged-with-assualt?nstrack=sid:880285|met:300|cat:0|order:4#full_story

After-School Melees Leave Boy Bloodied In Reading City Park

A string of after-school fights broke out Wednesday in Reading, leaving a boy bloodied in City Park and police without any explanation for two melees.

Sgt. John M. Solecki said fights occasionally happen after dismissal, but the violence Wednesday was unusual because various objects were used as weapons.

About 4 p.m., police converged on City Park, where between 75 and 100 teens were fighting at the basketball courts, some of them wielding 2-by-4s and baseball bats.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=464058

Police Swarm Birdsboro Neighborhood After Report Of Threat

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Law enforcement from around Berks County swarmed a Birdsboro neighborhood Monday night after hearing that a man staying in a house there threatened to hurt himself and his girlfriend.

The 46-year-old man and his girlfriend came out of the house in the 900 block of Denise Drive shortly before 10 p.m. after police contacted them by phone, borough Police Chief Theodore R. Roth said.

They were taken to the police station but not arrested, Roth said. Police planned to transport the man, whose identity they did not release, to Reading Hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=462237

One Man Shot, Another Stabbed In Reading

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One man was shot and another man stabbed in less than an hour early Sunday morning in Reading.

City police said the two incidents are unrelated.

Neither victim is cooperating with investigators.

In the shooting case, police were called to the 200 block of South Ninth Street for separate reports of shots being fired in the block and that a person had been shot.

Read  more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=442121

Shots Ring In New Year; 2 Killed, 2 Hurt In Reading

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading did not see sunlight in 2013 before police were investigating two killings on city streets.

Two men were also wounded in the separate shootings about 80 minutes apart early Tuesday, police said.

Police identified the dead as Luis Medina, 19, of South Third Street and Najeebie Johnson, 34, of Robeson Street.

The killings marked a rough start to a new year in a city that has seen a resurgence in violent crime.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=440251

Two Killed, Two Wounded In New Year’s Shootings In Reading

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two men were killed and another two were wounded in a series of overnight shootings in Reading, investigators said.

One man was shot to death and another grazed about 3:50 a.m., according to city police Sgt. John M. Solecki.

According to Solecki:

The pair and another man were driving around northeast Reading looking for a club where they were supposed to pick somebody up.  They stopped to ask directions from a man walking in the 900 block of Amity Street who fired several shots into the vehicle, fatally wounding the driver and grazing one of the passengers.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=440178

Berks Hospitals Get High Ratings

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

Medical treatment available at Reading Hospital and St. Joseph Medical Center is as good as or better than any other hospital in Pennsylvania.

But the cost of that treatment is more expensive at Reading Hospital, 16 percent more expensive on average.

The Hospital Performance Report released today by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council measures the in-hospital death and readmission rate of all hospitals in the state in 2011.  A readmission is defined as being admitted to the hospital within 30 days of being hospitalized for the same condition.

It also measures the average cost for treating some common medical conditions.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=437228

Driver Killed In Reading Crash

A city man was killed Thursday when he drove through a red light on Schuylkill Avenue at Buttonwood Street while talking on a cellphone and his car was hit broadside by a work van, authorities said.

Jose E. DeJesus Garcia, 53, who investigators said lived in the northwestern area of the city not far from the crash site, was pulled from the car by a nearby resident as the vehicle caught fire following the 8:25 a.m. accident.  He died before police arrived.

Within minutes, police vehicles, firetrucks and ambulances filled a one-block area that was strewn with mangled vehicle parts.  Firefighters quickly put out the burning car.

City detectives and evidence technicians responded along with patrol officers.  The intersection was closed nearly four hours, slowing commuter traffic on other routes.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/Article.aspx?id=432081