Ride the Ducks in Philadelphia has shut down indefinitely, according to a post on the company's official website Wednesday.
The post read "As of October 5, 2016, Ride The Ducks Philadelphia has suspended operations indefinitely."
Calls to the numbers provided in the post went unanswered Wednesday night, but a statement posted to the company's website cited a 330% increase in insurance premiums as the main reason for the shutdown.
"We are working with the 42 full and part-time employees from our Philadelphia location offering severance and outplacement assistance," the statement read in part.
The shut down comes more than four months after Philadelphia attorney Robert J. Mongeluzzi called for a moratorium on duck boat tour operations nationwide following deadly incidents.
Late Wednesday, Mongeluzzi issued a statement saying in part, "Philadelphia tourists and pedestrians are safer now that Ride the Ducks Philadelphia has unexpectedly announced an immediate and indefinite suspension of service."
In April, a 29-year-old woman was killed and her passenger was injured after the scooter she was driving was struck by an amphibious sightseeing vehicle in downtown Boston.
A duck boat crashed into a charter bus, killing five passengers on the bus last year in Seattle. Two Hungarian tourists were killed in 2010 when a sightseeing duck boat was hit by a barge on the Delaware River near Philadelphia.
Also in Philadelphia, a Ride the Ducks vehicle struck and killed a woman in 2015 who witnesses say was crossing the street, distracted by her cellphone.
“How many more people have to die in duck boat accidents before authorities realize they are deadly on land and in the water,” Mongeluzzi wrote in a released statement, back in April. “Through our experience representing victims of duck boat disasters we’ve determined they are fatally flawed; they’re death traps on the water due to their hazardous canopy design and on land they are engineered to restrict the peripheral vision of the operator, creating significant blind spots.”
Duck boats were first used by the U.S. Army when it deployed thousands of amphibious landing craft during World War II that were known then by their military designation, DUKW. Once the war was over, they were used by civilian law enforcement agencies and also converted to sightseeing vehicles in U.S. cities. The DUKW designation was replaced with the duck boat moniker that is used by various tour companies.
NBC10 First Alert Weather meteorologist Sheena Parveen is leaving Philly but not the NBC family.
Sheena is moving to NBC10's sister station WRC-TV/NBC4 Washington.
"Our loss is WRC’s gain," said NBC10 vice president of news Anzio Williams. "Sheena has been a great advocate and supporter of our communities and her love for pets made her the perfect ambassador for our Clear the Shelters pet adoption campaign. I’m certain that DC-area viewers will benefit from her energy, enthusiasm and expertise and immediately connect with her."
Sheena joined the NBC10 First Alert Weather Team five years ago and delivered the weather for such major events as Superstorm Sandy and the Blizzard of 2016. She also delivered weather updates for CSN, the Flyers and 76ers.
"I'm excited about this new opportunity and am delighted that I will remain in the NBCUniversal family," Sheena wrote on Facebook. "However, at the same time I am sad to leave the Philadelphia area and our passionate and loyal viewers. I have enjoyed forecasting the weather here for almost 5 years, and helping to keep our viewers (you) safe."
Sheena will make the move to D.C. at the end of the year.
Two men armed with a gun targeted the off-campus residence of St. Joseph's University students, police and the university said Wednesday.
The home invasion happened about 5 a.m. on the 5600 block of Woodbine Avenue in Philadelphia's Overbrook neighborhood -- not far from St. Joe's City Avenue campus. Police said two men, one of whom had a gun, forced their way into the students' residence and duct-taped a women who was inside. They then stole the woman's 2006 dark blue/green Hyundai Sonata, according to police, along with her iPad, iPhone and wallet.
The woman did not suffer any physical injuries in the ordeal.
St. Joe's released a statement later Wednesday morning regarding the incident, saying that its Office of Public Safety is joining Philadelphia Police in increasing patrols in the area where the home-invasion occurred. The school advised all students, faculty and staff to immediately report any suspicious activity.
"All residents of the home are safe and have been offered additional assistance and support by the university," the statement read. "This includes academic support as well as any counseling and psychological services that may be necessary."
Southwest Detectives are investigating. No arrests were reported Wednesday afternoon.
A deadly five-car pileup led to major backup on the Garden State Parkway on Wednesday evening.
Five vehicles crashed around 7:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes of the parkway near exit 35 in Clark Township.
One vehicle rolled over during the accident, ejecting both the man who was driving and a woman in the passenger seat. The man was killed and the woman was taken to an area hospital with serious, possibly critical, injuries, authorities said.
The southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway were shut down and drivers were forced to exit the roadway, leading to a five-mile long bumper-to-bumper standstill in Clark.
Traffic was still backed up just before 11:30 p.m. with a line of vehicles stretching all the way up to exit 138 just south of Union.
The crashed vehicles had been removed by 11:15 p.m. but it was still expected to be some time before traffic was moving again at full speed.
A New Jersey man faces drug dealing charges after being found with 910 packets of heroin in a mall parking lot.
A special Toms River Police enforcement team was doing surveillance on the Ocean County Mall Tuesday when they saw Iquan Small’s car pull into the parking lot, said police Thursday.
There was an active warrant out for the 23-year-old Seaside Heights man so police approached the car to arrest Small, said police.
A search during Smalls’ arrest revealed 160 wax folds of heroin on him, said investigators. Officers then found another 750 wax folds – distributed in 15 bricks – in Small’s car, they said.
Police estimated the street value of the 910 packets of the powerful opioid at more than $5,000.
A judge arraigned Small on heroin distribution and possession charges and sent him to county jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, said police.
A driver struck a man crossing Philadelphia’s busy Kelly Drive Thursday morning, leaving the roadway closed for more than an hour.
A man in his 60s or 70s died after being struck by a 75-year-old woman driving a 2016 Subaru along the Schuylkill River drive near Brewery Hill Drive in Fairmount Park around 9:45 a.m., said Philadelphia Police.
Medics rushed the man to Hahnemann Hospital where he died a short time later.
After more than an hour, the roadway reopened between Fountain Green and Lemon Hill drives, said police.
State Police closed the Pennsylvania Turnpike westbound in suburban Philadelphia Thursday afternoon after a motorcycle struck a state trooper’s cruiser.
The trooper wasn’t in the car at the time of the wreck in Tredyffrin Township, west of the Valley Forge Interchange (Exit 326), around 12:45 p.m., said state police. The trooper wasn't hurt.
A man and a woman on the motorcycle, however, suffered serious injuries that required medical helicopter transport, said police.
As crews tended to the injured and investigated, all westbound traffic was forced off at Valley Forge, said police. The roadway remained closed for hours and police expected it to remain closed into the evening rush.
Traffic backed up for miles approaching the scene. Traffic congestion also developed in the eastbound lanes between Downingtown (Exit 312) and Valley Forge, said the Turnpike Commission.
The turnpike suggested taking "Exit 328A to U.S. Route 202 South to U.S. Route 30 West to State Route 100 North" to get back to the Downingtown Interchange.
No word yet on what led to the wreck. As SkyForce10 hovered overhead you could see the motorcycle in the roadway. Police said no other vehicles were involved.
At 29, Christy Keronen had big dreams. The ambitious young woman was was well-loved, dedicated her time to taking care of her elderly father, and hoped to someday start her own cleaning company, her brother said.
So when CJ Keronen heard that his sister, his support system for his whole life with whom he shared a home in Lakewood, Ocean County, died violently at the hands of a man who later took his own life, the devastating news shocked him.
"I've not completely wrapped my head around the situation," CJ Keronen wrote in an email to NBC10 on Thursday, a day after police found his sister dead in the Jackson Township home of a man they identified as 32-year-old Tyree Johnson. Authorities said they believe Johnson killed himself after killing Christy Keronen.
CJ Keronen said he and his sister, who was six years younger than him, spent their whole lives supporting each other, and became even closer after their mother died nine years ago.
"We have been living together, we work together, take care of our elderly father together," CJ Keronen said. "We did everything as a team."
He remembered his sister as a kind woman who was "full of ambition" and well-loved by everyone who crossed her path. "She's the type of person who would give you the shirt off her back," CJ Keronen wrote. "Always thinking of others before herself."
CJ Keronen reported his sister missing to police in Lakewood on Wednesday -- the same day officers in Jackson discovered her body -- after he hadn't seen her since Sunday evening and grew worried. It was unlike Christy not to show up for work or come home at night without a phone call.
The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said a 911 call to police in Holmdel about 7:30 Wednesday morning reporting a man's body hanging from the bucket of a Comcast truck led police to discover Johnson's apparent suicide. When they went to his home in hopes of notifying his family of his death, authorities said, they found Christy Keronen dead of apparent head trauma in the kitchen.
A spokesman for the prosecutor's office said that he could confirm only that Christy Keronen and Johnson knew each other in some capacity.
CJ Keronen said his sister and Johnson were friends, and that his sister had told Johnson numerous times that she was interested only in a platonic friendship with him. "I've overheard her mention to other friends that she would have to cut him out of her life if he couldn't accept that," CJ Keronen wrote in an email.
"I'm still in shock as to what happened," he wrote. "Christy's always had admirers, but never did I think it would come this far."
He posted a heartfelt tribute to his sister on his Facebook page in the wake of her tragic death.
"I lost my sister, my best friend, this weekend," CJ Keronen wrote in the post. "The hardest thing I ever had to do in my life was to explain to my father that his baby girl is dead. Words can't even explain what I'm feeling right now.
"I love you Christy Keronen," he ended the post. "May you forever rest in peace."
A South Jersey sheriff is warning people about "creepy clown" activity and vowing to protect people if necessary.
"Recently, people in clown costumes committing illegal or suspicious acts have been reported throughout the country," said Burlington County Sheriff Jean Stanfield. "Here in Burlington County schools and police departments have also begun to receive both credible as well as false reports of similar behavior."
The threats included one against township schools Monday – the schools remained open.
Stanfield warned people of the frustration first responders are facing over clown hoaxes – the majority reported have been hoaxes – and told people that those making false claims will be held responsible.
"When you spread information that is known to be false and causes public alarm, it is a crime." said Stanfield. "While some may view this as a prank, it is a serious offense that wastes the time and valuable resources of our police departments."
The sheriff wanted to reassure residents that "proper precautions" are being made to "to ensure Burlington County residents are as safe as possible."
"The safety and security of Burlington County residents is our top priority, and we take any threat against them seriously," Stanfield said. [[395916081, C]]
