Criminal Justice

Court documents recently unsealed by Lehigh County officials shine new light on rape and prostitution-related charges filed last week against a current and former Allentown cop.

Joshua Gonzalez, 40, of South Whitehall Township, faces 70 to 140 years in prison, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office.

About 50 people rallied Monday outside Allentown City Hall, calling for federal intervention after a Black employee found a noose on her desk last week.

Authorities are investigating after the body of a 39-year-old New Jersey resident was found in a dumpster behind the Santander Bank on Saturday.

Joshua D. Moser was found dead in his Lehigh County Jail cell on Saturday, Jan. 11. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, but Lehigh County Coroner and the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office believe it to be a suicide.

Easton attorney Jeremy Clark will run for a seat on the Northampton County bench.

Sgt. Evan Weaver and former Vice officer Jason Krasley are accused of sexually assaulting the same victim between 2011 and 2015.

Mayor Matt Tuerk called Allentown “one of the safest large cities” in Pennsylvania, citing statistics that show only Bethlehem has a lower per-capita violent-crime rate among cities with more than 50,000 residents.

Four people were victims of homicides in Allentown last year; 19 people were killed in homicides in 2023, according to data from the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office.

FOP Washington Lodge #17, representing Easton Police Department officers, announced the approval of a new four-year contract with the city, set to be settled with council on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.

The shooting occurred Saturday night outside a family party. Authorities said the gunman was part of an uninvited group that was denied entry to the party. No arrests have been made, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney.

Francis Malofiy of law firm Francis Alexander on Tuesday filed a complaint for a class action lawsuit on behalf of 12 families who all say they were falsely accused of child abuse by LVHN doctors.

Mayor David Heintzelman said the borough has 'complete confidence' in Interim Chief Dominick Fragano. Officials say they are awaiting the results of a police department assessment by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.

A broken heating system at the Allentown Police Department's 60-year-old headquarters is just one of many reasons the city should push for a new station, according to a six-month feasibility study.

An outdated police manual from 1981, gross approval of overtime and a general lack of leadership by Chief Douglas Kish necessitate change in the Catasauqua Borough Police Department, a study showed.

Newly sworn-in Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta expects it will take him more than a year to fill his roster of prosecutors. In the meantime, his office has to deal with a massive backlog of cases.

An Orefield woman has been charged in a Saturday shooting that left a man injured, city police said.

The Allentown title company owner surrendered to authorities Thursday morning and was arraigned on the newest charges.

The Allentown Police Department secured $4.1 million in grants to buy 67 license-plate readers and several gunshot-detection devices.

Christopher Fitzgerald was shot and killed near the Temple University campus in Philadelphia while working as a university police officer in February 2023.

City officials say the technology will be "life-changing," while critics have called the system "reactionary" and an expansion of the "surveillance state."

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.