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.

Sammy Sasso, a state champion wrestler from Nazareth Area High School, was shot Aug. 18 in a carjacking near Ohio State University, where he is a student.

Visitors to an open house on Saturday, Sept. 9, can meet the six equine officers of the Bethlehem Police Department and their partners.

Danelo Cavalcante, who escaped from Chester County Prison last week, has been on the run for six days. He was convicted last month of killing his girlfriend and is extremely dangerous, according to authorities.

Lehigh County officials determined the proposed legislation had more than a dozen problems, making it too problematic to present to Allentown voters. The bill would have dispatched an EMT and mental health professional to certain calls and prohibited other first responders from going.

About 40 people protested at Lehigh Valley Hospital Wednesday. Many said they or someone they knew had been falsely accused of medical child abuse by LVHN doctors.

Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office warns residents about a surge in telephone scams and offers tips on avoiding fraudulent calls.

Police in Columbus, Ohio, arrested a 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl and charged them with aggravated robbery and felony assault in the Aug. 18 attack near Ohio State University.

Pennsylvania will not release a state-maintained database of certified police officers, even after a national coalition of newsrooms asked Gov. Josh Shapiro to intervene.

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency awarded Bethlehem a $726,000 grant in January to provide programming intended to reduce violence in five neighborhoods. City officials will begin surveying residents about their needs next week.

A woman accused of intentionally abandoning her dog at a Pennsylvania airport before she boarded a flight to a resort in Mexico earlier this month has been charged with animal cruelty and related charges.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Dominick Hogans ran from police and then shot at them July 24, 2023. Officers were within their rights when they returned fire, fatally shooting him nine times, Martin said.

A Lehigh County report found "systemic overdiagnosis" of medical child abuse, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. People came to the Lehigh County Commissioners meeting and said LVHN has falsely accused many of the disorder.