Philadelphia's former City Representative is planning to file a defamation lawsuit against the city's Controller after he accused her of using a special account as a "slush fund."
Attorney Joe H. Tucker, Jr. said his client, Desiree Peterkin-Bell, never personally benefited when spending money from The Mayor's Fund, a nonprofit designed to collect funding from events like the Philadelphia Marathon and use them for city improvement projects.
Tucker told NBC10 he plans to send a letter to city controller Alan Butkovitz on Friday notifying him about the impending lawsuit.
At a news conference Tuesday, Butkovitz released findings of an audit into spending of Mayor's Fund money. Peterkin-Bell, a close aide to mayor Michael Nutter, was the fund's chair.
Butkovitz questioned tens of thousands of dollars in charges from hotel room spending to a shoe purchase.
“I find it absolutely intolerable the former chairperson used this account to purchase shoes," the controller told reporters. “It appears the former chairperson used the account as if it were a special slush fund."
Peterkin-Bell denied any misuse. Nutter unleashed a scathing tirade against Butkovitz calling him a "liar, a snake and a hypocrite."
NBC10 reached out to Butkovitz's office for comment, but no one was immediately available Thursday night.
Peterkin-Bell's intention to sue was first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Claudia Vargas.
A Philadelphia man is behind bars and two women whom officials say he held captive and forced into sex slavery are free, Montgomery County prosecutors said Thursday.
Police said they launched a multi-agency investigation into Bruce "Cash" Steele, 44, who they said was operating a human trafficking operation in the five-county Philadelphia region. Steele subjected the women he trafficked to "involuntary servitude," according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele (no relation to defendant), through the use of violence, threats and coercion.
Prosecutors said when police served a warrant on Steele's home in Philadelphia, they found two women he'd been holding captive and trafficking. Both survivors, police said, went to safe places for treatment with the help of the Salvation Army's Stop Trafficking initiative.
Steele is facing 34 felony counts of charges including human trafficking, prostitution, involuntary servitude and related offenses, and authorities continue to investigate his trafficking operation.
They said Steele preyed on vulnerable women battling drug addictions who had little to no resources to protect themselves.
Steele is being held at Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $1 million cash bail. He is scheduled for an Aug. 25 preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Harry Nesbitt in Horsham.
Officials ask that anyone with additional information on Steele's trafficking operation contact Montgomery County Detectives at 610-278-3368.
Two New Jersey Transit buses collided Friday in a horrific t-bone crash in downtown Newark, killing two people and injuring 17 others, some of them critically, officials said.
The driver of the No. 59 bus from Dunellen to Newark broadsided the No. 13 bus from Irvington to Clifton while heading west on Raymond Boulevard near Broad Street shortly after 6 a.m. The driver of the No. 59 bus, James Barthelus, was the only person on board the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Seventeen passengers were on the other bus. All of them and the driver were taken to hospitals in varying conditions.
Mayor Ras Baraka said that a woman passenger aboard the No. 13 bus was pronounced dead sometime after the crash. One passenger was in critical condition and five in serious condition, he said. Eight others were in fair or good condition, he added.
The surviving bus driver, James Roberts, who had been on the job for 35 years, has since been released from the hospital, authorities said.
Yacouba Savadogo was one of the passengers aboard the No. 13 bus involved in the crash. He said the impact zone was only a few rows in front of him and he threw himself as far back as he could as the other bus crushed into his. Afterward, he was the only person aboard the bus able to walk, so he helped as best he could until first responders got to the scene.
He suffered minor injuries to his arm and leg.
Chopper 4 footage showed one bus smashed into the other. One of the vehicles appeared crumpled like an accordion, and glass and mangled chunks of metal had spewed onto the ground below.
Baraka said authorities were working to confirm reports that one of the drivers may have run a red light.
"This is not a regular event for NJ transit," Baraka said. "We are working to make sure these things don’t happen."
Footage from the scene showed some victims lying on a sidewalk and others taken away in stretchers. They were surrounded by dozens of firefighters and police.
One bystander who scrambled to try to help passengers described the scene as a "nightmare."
NJ Transit police Chief Christopher Trucillo said in a statement that the bus agency was cooperating with prosecutors and others investigating the crash.
"We at NJ Transit would like to give our condolences to the family of our driver who is a long time NJ Transit employee and our hearts and sympathies go out not only to his family but also to all our bus employees because NJ Transit is a family and when an incident like this happens it impacts everyone in a meaningful way," said Trucillo.
Starbucks employee Jennifer Peltrain was opening up her store near the crash site and ran outside to help after hearing what she said sounded like an explosion.
Peltrain and her fellow baristas were among the first people on hand and aided people with ice water, rags and a first aid kit.
The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the collision.
When a pair of armed robbers barreled into a cellphone store in New Jersey demanding money and phones, they clearly didn't realize how quickly the manager would turn the tables on them, as evidenced by surveillance video.
The armed men burst into a Boost Mobile cellphone store in Paterson Wednesday afternoon and held up manager Tomy Torrez. He did what he was told.
"I say, check the walls and take whatever you want," Torrez told NBC 4 New York. "So when they were busy I start running to the back."
That's when Torrez got smart: he opened a back door that connected to another office and told everyone there they needed to get out. Then he went out another door from that space and slammed the gate there, blocking the back exit. And he went back to the front of the cellphone store and did the same thing from the outside.
Surveillance video shows the exact moment the metal gates slammed down on the storefront, sparking panic from the robbers.
"Get us outta here!" they shouted as they desperately tried to slam through the glass.
By that time, a crowd had gathered outside the store. They gawked and laughed at the robbers trapped inside, cellphone video taken by one of the passersby shows.
"I can't let you outta there!" an incredulous woman yells back at the robber from across the glass and metal gate.
Meanwhile, Torrez called police from outside. Paterson police confirmed to NBC 4 New York they got a call at 4:09 p.m. but said the person on the phone said, "Someone is stealing in my store." The operator thought it was a shoplifter, and police weren't dispatched right away.
At that point, the robbers were desperately trying to get out and finally, one of them finds the master set of keys and hands them to the people outside.
"Yo, yo, yo, I got the keys, yo," one of the robbers says.
But the people outside hand the keys to Torrez instead.
Police records show another call was made to 911 at 4:13. But still, a different operator thought it was a shoplifter, and still no police.
Eventually, the robbers wised up and found a toolbox. They unbolted the bars on a back window and escaped.
Records show a third call came into 911 at 4:27. This time, the operator was informed of a gun, and police were sent right away. But by that time, the bungling criminal duo had already escaped, leaving behind a mess and a bag with bullets and needles inside.
Torrez said he called police "like five times."
"I said, 'We got a robbery inside, they got a gun,'" Torrez said.
Paterson police said internal affairs are investigating and will use the incident to help retrain 911 operators.
As for those lucky robbers, police are still looking for them.
An 18-year-old has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a man who unknowingly drove his car into a gun battle on one of Philadelphia's main streets last month, police said Friday.
A 19-year-old is also charged, but remains on the loose, police said. A $20,000 reward has been issued for the arrest of Saykou Monte, whose last known address is in the first block of East Collum Street. His residence is a block from where the fatal shooting took place.
That gun battle took place in the 5100 block of Germantown Avenue on the evening of July 28.
Police responded to a call of a shooting about 6 p.m. They found Alsharay Ford, 25, of Hellerman Street, with gunshot wounds to his head and right shoulder. He was taken to a nearby hospital, but died the next day.
Ford's 3-year-old daughter was in the backseat of the car at the time of the shooting, but was unharmed. Detectives believe Ford was shot when he accidentally drove into a gunfight that erupted on Germantown Avenue.
Jameil Byrd, of the 5100 block of Wissahickon Avenue, was identified as an alleged gunman in the shooting, police said. He was arrested Thursday morning three blocks from the shooting scene and charged with murder.
Anyone with information about Monte's whereabouts is asked to call the homicide fugitive squad at 215-686-3334 or -3335.
As the dog days of summer are coming to an end, now is your time to adopt a four-legged friend.
ACCT Philly is hosting free pet adoptions on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in an effort to clear space in their full kennels.
“Adoptions have been slow the past few weeks because of the heat,” Vincent Medley, ACCT Philly executive director said in a statement. “For anyone who has been considering adoption, we need you to come out now and save a life.”
For adoption procedures and a list of adoptable pets, visit ACCT Philly's website.
The ex-boyfriend of a woman whose body was found stuffed into a recycling bin placed along a Wilmington street has been charged with her murder.
Idrees Merritt, 20, is accused of shooting Precious Hoskins and then disposing of her body in a trash receptacle along the 800 block of E. 22nd Street, police said. The 21-year-old's body was discovered Wednesday afternoon.
Merritt was taken into custody by SWAT officers on Thursday for questioning. His home on the 2100 block of Locust Street was searched.
Hoskins' mother, Mary Dunham, said Merritt allegedly abused her daughter over the course of the relationship.
Merritt is charged with Murder in the 1st Degree and related firearm offenses. He is being held without bail at the Howard Young Correctional Facility. It's not immediately clear if he's retained an attorney.
A disturbing 636 percent increase in overdoses from the medical-grade opioid fentanyl in Philadelphia has city health officials warning medical professionals and the public about the increased pervasiveness of the dangerously strong drug.
City health officials said Friday that 184 people died last year as a result of a fentanyl overdose, whether by using the drug alone or in combination with another, like heroin. Two years prior, in 2013, the drug killed 25 people. The change equates to a seven fold increase.
"Clearly, we have an epidemic,” Philadelphia’s Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said at a news conference in City Hall.
This year’s data shows there’s no expectation the epidemic will slow down. In the first four months of 2016, 99 of the overdose deaths involved fentanyl, city data shows.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid in the same family as heroin, oxycontin and morphine. But it is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. A small dose can prove fatal by causing a person to stop breathing. Often the drug is used to cut another, like heroin, for a stronger high. Sometimes, it’s sold by itself.
“People are buying this drug in the same way as others,” Farley said.
Those suffering from opioid drug addiction quickly grow tolerant to the highs prescription painkillers and heroin provide. The result forces them into increasingly painful withdrawal. So they seek stronger highs, putting themselves at further risk with each hit and each new drug they try.
Heroin users explained the vicious cycle to NBC10 earlier this year as part of our special investigation Generation Addicted. The project, which debuted in March, explored the tragic world of opioid addiction in Philadelphia and beyond. It also looked at its effects on the addicted, their families and society.
Drug overdoses continue to rise despite frantic efforts by local, state and federal health and law enforcement officials to stem a tidal wave of deaths nationwide. More people died of a drug overdose than in a car wreck for the past three years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Opioid overdose deaths accounted for more than 28,000 of the lives claimed in 2014 — the highest on record.
A recently released Drug Enforcement Administration report showed similar trends involving fentanyl across Pennsylvania. Agents saw a 93 percent jump in deaths involving the drug from 2014 to 2015. Further troubling is the fact that “fentanyl was the most commonly reported drug” among people who overdosed from heroin, the agency wrote.
The overdose reversal medicine naloxone — commonly known as Narcan — has helped to bring countless people back to life, but doses may not be large enough to overcome fentanyl’s effects.
Deputy Fire Commissioner Jeremiah Laster said while naloxone typically will coax a person back to consciousness and allow them to breathe on their own following a heroin overdose, the same isn’t true for fentanyl. Medics often try to keep a person’s airway open as they rush them to the closest emergency room, he said.
“The goal is to get somebody to the hospital to get them help,” he said.
Laster, who oversees emergency medical services, said the department is conducting a time-consuming review of patient records to determine whether an increase in naloxone dosage could make a difference in reversing fentanyl overdoses.
Increased dosage will undoubtedly result in higher costs — an issue that’s already becoming a problem for the city and other naloxone providers. Three years ago, the city paid $13.74 for a dose of the medicine. Today, that same dose costs $37.52. Laster said that’s still at a deep discount since the city gets government pricing. Some providers pay upwards of $100 a dose.
Everyone sees the medicine as a stopgap, preventing a person from ending up at the morgue. “Prevention is key to solving this problem,” Laster said.
Dr. Arthur Evans, Philadelphia’s behavioral health commissioner, said the city is taking a number of steps to address the crisis.
Evans said the city is “significantly expanding” access to services and medicine-assisted treatment. These medicine therapies help stabilize a person as they work to wean themselves off of drugs over a long-period of time.
The city is adding 500 extra slots for methadone treatment, 500 additional detox opportunities and doubling access to buprenorphine, widely known as Suboxone, to offer people help when they are asking for it, Evans said.
Behavioral health staff are doing outreach in communities with the highest concentrations of drug addicted people, like hard-hit Kensington, to let people how they can get help.
An assessment center at the North Philadelphia Health System (801 W. Girard Ave.) operates 24 hours a day helping to connect people to treatment offerings. A phone hotline (888-545-2600) does the same, Evans said.
Three state-sponsored Centers for Excellence will begin offering expanded treatment for Medicaid patients starting in the fall. Evans is hoping new money appropriated through the recently-passed federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act will makes it way to the city through grants.
Outreach is also taking place among the medical community. For years, doctors freely prescribed prescription opioids, in the form of pills like Oxycontin, Percocet and Vicodin, and benzodiazepines like Xanax contributing to the epidemic’s wide scope. Now officials are trying to help physicians balance managing a patient’s pain and preventing addition from taking hold.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society and Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration issued new prescribing guidelines in July issuing a number of recommendations to doctors including putting a limit of seven days on opioid prescriptions doled out in the emergency room.
Addiction experts say many times patients are given too many pills to treat a minor issue leaving the door open for dependence or abuse by another person in their home.
Farley couldn’t say whether the city’s emergency rooms were following the guidelines (they are not required), but said his office plans to conduct outreach with doctors to keep them abreast of the epidemic.
And as the city works to address this latest facet of the complex crisis, there are new concerns from law enforcement about even stronger opioids hitting Philly’s streets.
Narcotics officers and DEA agents believe the synthetic opioid W-18 has begun to seep into the the local drug market. Designed in China, the drug can be up to 10,000 times stronger than morphine. Large amounts of the drug were seized in Miami and Alberta, Canada. Police drug labs have begun testing for it.
But as addiction specialist Dr. Brian Work told NBC10 earlier this year, with the heroin and fentanyl problem as pervasive as it is, “it's hard worrying about the next thing down the pipe."
Wednesday, August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. NBC10 will be re-airing our 30 minute documentary from Generation Addicted at 7 p.m. that night.
