A man hid in the closet of a suburban Philadelphia home and later emerged and attacked his estranged wife and her boyfriend, police in Montgomery County said.

Hatfield Township police Wednesday announced 22 charges including aggravated assault, burglary, trespass and terroristic threats against Jason William Beck, 36, of Norristown.

Authorities allege that he broke into a home late Monday night, hid in a master bedroom closet, waited until the two victims returned and went to bed, and then emerged and sprayed mace, stabbed and beat one with a baseball bat and also assaulted his estranged lover. Both were treated at a hospital. Three children who were home at the time weren't harmed.

Beck surrendered to officers outside the home, telling responding officers he was the guy they were looking for, police said.

Court documents indicated that Beck requested representation by the Montgomery County public defender's office, which said no attorney had yet been assigned. He remained jailed Wednesday, unable to post $500,000 bail, court records said.

Rent-A-Chicken, the America's first chicken rental business, has brought its services to our doorstep... literally. You can now rent a chicken from the company at home if you live in Philadelphia or the surrounding areas.

Although this is new and perhaps even alarming for those in the Philadelphia area, companies have been renting chickens, so customers can get fresh eggs, for years. Rent-A-Chicken is just now ensuring that urban-livers get to have the same chicken-renting privileges as those who live in the suburbs or country. 

The rental comes with two laying hens, ready to provide you with eggs, but you will get a chicken coop and enclosed run, 50 pounds of feed, a water dispenser and feeder, delivery and set up, and a tutorial and manual.

The rental lasts for warmer seasons, and Rent-A-Chicken will take them back for the winter. 

The company prefers that you contact them for all inquiries including prices and requirements for rental. 

Amid the holy week of Easter and Passover, Montgomery County Commissioner Joseph Gale is doing his part to put the “Worship” back in Whitemarsh Township.

Gale told NBC10 Wednesday he’s been delivering signs to Whitemarsh residents with the words, “Whitemarsh: A Great Place to Live, Work, & Worship.”

It’s all part of a campaign to return the original slogan of “Welcome to Whitemarsh Township: A Great Place to Live Work and Worship” back to roadside signs welcoming drivers to the town. Current welcoming signs leave out the word “Worship” and instead say, “Welcome to Whitemarsh Township: A Great Place to Live and Work.”

Whitemarsh Township Supervisor and life-long resident Jim Totten brought attention to the issue earlier this year.

“I brought it to the attention of my board members when I let them know I wasn’t running for re-election,” Totten, the lone Republican on the town’s five-member board, told NBC10 in March. “This is not a political ploy to get me recognition. I did it because it’s morally the best thing to do.”

Totten said he was unsure when the word “Worship” was taken out of the township’s slogan. According to a recent published report, a member of the Whitemarsh Township Business Association said the organization was behind the design and creation of at least one of the current signs -- and the now-prevalent slogan -- in the early 1980s.

Township manager Rick Mellor said the rest of the signs were paid for by the township but was unsure when they were erected with worship-free wording, according to Montgomery News.

Gale told NBC10 he agrees with Totten and heard from many people during several Whitemarsh Township Board of Supervisors meetings who agreed as well that the word “Worship” should return.

“It is time to reclaim Whitemarsh’s heritage and history by once again embracing the fact that Whitemarsh Township is home to a Jewish synagogue and many Christian churches – otherwise known as ‘places of worship,’” Gale said.

Gale claimed Whitemarsh Township canceled two Board of Supervisors meetings after the issue of restoring the town’s original slogan was mentioned during a meeting on February 23. That’s when Gale decided to take action and deliver yard signs with the original slogan to Whitemarsh homes.

“In reaction to what appears to be a second attempt to silence support for Supervisor Totten’s proposal by effectively stripping Whitemarsh residents of their right to be heard publicly in a taxpayer-funded forum, a group of private citizens have pooled resources to acquire yard signs advocating restoration of the word, ‘Worship’ to Whitemarsh Township’s slogan,” Gale said.

“Furthermore, this consortium of men and women has asked me to be their voice in promoting the effort to distribute these yard signs to supportive households across Whitemarsh. I have enthusiastically agreed.”

Gale created a contact page on his website where Whitemarsh residents can request a sign for their yard.

Totten told NBC10 he doesn’t know when he’ll introduce a resolution for “Worship” to return and is still gathering opinions from residents. If the township board eventually takes up Totten’s idea before he leaves office next January, the new signs would be paid for through private donations, the supervisor said.

While some Whitemarsh Township residents have shown support for bringing "Worship" back, others have rejected the idea with one resident reportedly calling it "incredibly offensive," during a meeting back on March 23. 

“The people that have been against it have thrown out the reasoning of separation of church and state. But it has nothing to do with it. They’re off on that,” Totten said. “If you go back in history, we wanted to leave England because we wanted to worship the way we wanted. Worship doesn’t mean you have to go to this church or that church. You could worship the tree in your front yard.”

Nobody is blowing a fuse, exactly, but there is a current of dissatisfaction about Philadelphia City Council's April 6 decision to issue a moratorium on issuing electric vehicle parking permits.

Now, city residents who see Bill 170093-A as a reversal of Philly's eco-friendly regulations have started a petition urging Mayor Jim Kenney to veto the measure. Three-hundred of a desired 500 people have signed the petition to date.

When he was a council member, Kenney sponsored the legislation that originally amended the city code to enable those with electric vehicles to reserve a spot outside their homes to charge their cars. Critics say that it privatizes on-street parking; electric vehicle owners say sustainability and environment-friendly solutions are a more pressing concern for the city.

City Council is looking for Mayor Kennedy to support the moratorium that the City Council voted for 11-6, and while he has not yet signed the bill, he's indicated that he will do so.

"That's the will of Council," Kenney said. "It’s a moratorium, it’s not an end. We can give it a shot to ease it for a while until we figure out a better solution.”

A copy of the petition can be found here.

An 8-year-old boy is being hailed a hero after he saved his family from a house fire in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

"If it wasn't for him I don't think none of us would be alive," Vanessa Indart said.

Indart's son, Kane O'Connor, was sleeping in their home late Friday night when he was awoken by flames and smoke in his bedroom.

"I couldn't breathe and I felt the fire hitting my head," O'Connor said.

O'Connor jumped into action and ran to wake up the rest of his family.

"My son came into the room and said, 'Dad, the house is on fire,'" O'Connor's stepfather Jesse Vanderpoel said.

O'Connor, his parents, his 4-year-old sister and the family dog all managed to escape unharmed.

"He told me, he's like, 'Mom, I don't know what happened but I woke up and I told myself I had to be brave and I jumped off the bed and my body knew exactly what to do,'" Indart said.

Officials say the fire's been ruled an accident. The family believes a space heater in O'Connor's bedroom started the blaze. They are currently staying with relatives and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help replace their belongings lost in the fire. 

O'Connor, who has autism, is a 1st grade student at Slaybaugh Primary School in Egg Harbor Township. The word of the month at the school is currently "courage," something that the young boy displayed in order to save his family.

"Being that he's a little different than others, I find it very heroic and very special and I'm very blessed to have him," Indart said.

O'Connor will be honored Thursday for his heroism during a ceremony at his school.

"I'm just so proud of him," Kristi Frick, O'Connor's guidance counselor said. "I want him to know what an act he did was so brave. Even for an adult."

The American Civil Liberties Union filed 13 Freedom of Information Act lawsuits on Wednesday in response to President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban against passengers from majority-Muslim countries.

The coordinated action is part of an ongoing legal struggle that originated during Trump’s first month in office when he issued an executive order restricting travel from seven countries, including Syria and Iraq. The order was later put on hold by federal courts in Maryland and Hawaii.

“The Muslim ban is really unprecedented in both its scope and vindictiveness. It was quickly put into place without much forethought, and local ... agents were left trying to figure out how to implement it,” said Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

“The courts quickly halted its enforcement, but we still do not know what kind of guidance CBP received and how faithfully the agency followed court orders. The documents we requested should shed light on this question.”

The ACLU is asking for records from local branches of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security. Complaints will be filed in various states including Maryland, California and Georgia.

Of particular interest to the ACLU’s Pennsylvania chapter is records from CBP’s Baltimore field office pertaining to the deportation of several Syrian families who were denied entry into Philadelphia International Airport.

The ACLU first asked for this information on February 2.

“Since the government has failed to substantively respond, the ACLU is now suing,” the group said in a statement.

At least one local family was directly impacted by Trump’s executive order. The Assalis of Allentown expected to greet their Syrian relatives in January, but the family was denied entry at Philadelphia's airport despite having obtained proper immigration documents and travel visas.

Members of their extended family were deported to Qatar and forced to wait several weeks before returning to the United States. Their dramatic reunion at John F. Kennedy International Airport captured national attention and rallied activists throughout the country.

“The public has a right to know how federal immigration officials have handled the implementation of the Muslim bans, especially after multiple federal courts have blocked various aspects of these executive orders,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Project Staff Attorney with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

Homicides in the City of Brotherly Love are up 20 percent after dipping slightly the last two years.

Currently there are 85 murder victims compared to 71 homicides this time last year, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. This follows a four-year trend in rising murder rates after the city experienced a significant decrease in 2013.

“The highest motive we’re seeing is arguments between people … which can be difficult to anticipate,” said Philadelphia police spokesman Capt. Sekou Kinebrew.

He added that these arguments are not necessarily between friends, relatives or even people who know each other. They are “disputes that turn violent,” he said.

Despite the uptick, shootings are down 5 percent overall. The paradox is difficult to explain, but Kinebrew credits police with maintaining a strong presence on the streets and forging lasting relationships with the communities they patrol.

“Philadelphia is unique as a city of neighborhoods,” he said. “We have police who grew up in these areas and know the residents. Their kids are our kids.”

These relationships are strengthened by regular townhalls, community programs and social engagement between law enforcement and citizens, Kinebrew added. It’s a calculated, holistic approach that is not necessarily singular to Philadelphia but has proven successful in a city whose demographics change seemingly block by block.

For example, in the 14th District where Kinebrew once patrolled, enforcement officers hand out free water ice to children and their parents on the last day of school. He called it a “bit of a trick” to educate residents on the changing curfews police enforce during summer nights.

“We hope these tactics pay out as time unfolds,” he said, adding that the homicide division is hiring more officers and detectives in an effort to curb murder rates.

“We can’t just police our way out of it.”

During the presidential campaign season, President Donald Trump accused Philadelphia of skyrocketing crime rates. Mayor Jim Kenney bristled, calling Trump a purveyor of fake facts.

“The men and women of the Philadelphia Police Department … dedicate themselves every day to driving down our crime rate, laying their lives on the line,” Kenney said at the time.

Indeed, Philadelphia’s overall murder rate has steadily dropped over the last decade. In 2007, 391 people were killed compared to 278 in 2016. Last year's numbers also appreared to be on the rise by mid-year but leveled out by December, Kinebrew said. 

A Pennsylvania man is suing a South Philadelphia bar after claiming a bartender threw a glass at his face, leaving him bloody and scarred for life.

Zachary Kleinpeter, 26, of Wyncote, told NBC10 the incident took place at the Paddy Whacks Irish Sports Pub on South Street back on December 2.

Kleinpeter, who is studying to be a Physician Assistant, said he was with his family and longtime friends at the bar. Kleinpeter ordered a second round of drinks but was ignored by the bartender, according to the lawsuit. When Kleinpeter tried to get his attention, the bartender allegedly began cursing and yelling at him. Kleinpeter claims he remained calm as the bartender continued shouting at him. The bartender then allegedly threw an empty glass at Kleinpeter, striking him in the face, before fleeing the bar.

“It hit my top teeth the worst and my nose,” Kleinpeter said. “It shattered like across my face.”

The lawsuit states Kleinpeter suffered severe cuts on his face, forehead, eyes, nose, teeth and mouth and was temporarily blinded by shards of glass and blood streaming from his open wounds.

After Kleinpeter’s friends and family alerted the manager, they were told that the bartender was not an employee at the bar even though he was working that night, according to the lawsuit. Kleinpeter says he still doesn’t know the bartender’s name and he’s listed as “John Doe” in the lawsuit.

Kleinpeter was taken to the hospital and treated for severe lacerations, a cracked jaw and displaced teeth. He says he had to get 20 stitches, has permanent scars and has been battling depression since the incident.

“Every time I wake up in the morning I just have to look into the mirror,” Kleinpeter said. “I see all these scars and I’m just like, it brings me back to that moment. I’m just like, ‘Why did this even happen?’”

Kleinpeter filed a lawsuit against Paddy Whacks seeking more than $50,000 in damages. The lawsuit accuses the bar of refusing to help Kleinpeter track down the bartender who threw the glass. It also states that the bar’s surveillance video wasn’t working the night of the incident.

NBC10 reached out to the manager of Paddy Whacks for comment but we have not yet heard a response.

“I just hope that in the end Paddy Whacks can just take responsibility for their actions,” Kleinpeter said. “I just hope that this doesn’t happen to any of their patrons that come in.”

A former Boy Scout leader was convicted on 11 child pornography charges in New Jersey and faces sexual abuse allegations dating back two decades, prosecutors say.

A Morristown jury found Stephen Corcoran guilty on 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child by possessing child pornography on a thumb drive and one count of exhibiting or showing child pornography to someone else, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp announced Wednesday.

The 49-year-old was taken into custody and will be sentenced June 2.

Corcoran also faces trial on separate sexual abuse charges stemming from allegations by three juveniles who were Boy Scouts during the 1990s, prosecutors said. The allegations were uncovered during a 2011 investigation into the alleged sexual assaults.

A witness disclosed that the former troop leader had shown him child pornography, and police subsequently found a thumb drive containing child porn images and videos from Corcoran's home, according to prosecutors.

A Tenafly, New Jersey, man was arrested in connection with a deadly fire in Little Ferry last year, officials said Wednesday.

After a lengthy investigation into the August 2016 blaze on Washington Avenue, officials said Gary L’Heureux knowingly violated New Jersey fire code, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal said.

Emergency responders raced to the scene of the blaze last year after an explosion and fire at a multi-family home owned by L’Heureux, officials said.

Crews were able to save the second-floor residents from the building, but they suffered minor injuries. However, one man was hospitalized, according to Grewal.

The third-floor family was trapped by the fire causing one victim to jump from the third-story window, officials said. The other two, a mother and 5-year-old daughter, were eventually saved by firefighters before all three were taken to area hospitals, where the mother and 5-year-old girl died, authorities said.

Investigators later determined the explosion and fire originated in the garage, and found that L’Heureux failed to make the necessary upgrades to the home as required by state regulations, including failure to maintain or install hard-wired smoke detectors, failure to provide a secondary egress or fire escape, as well as failure to provide apartment doors on the second and third floors that were required to have self-closure devices, officials said.

L’Heureux on Wednesday was charged with two counts of second-degree knowingly violating state fire code and two counts of third-degree knowingly violating state fire code, prosecutors said.

It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could comment on the allegations. 

The husband of a motorcyclist badly injured in a crash on the Garden State Parkway Monday morning is pleading for any witnesses to come forward in helping locate the driver who allegedly cut her off, then took off.

Joan Mernick was riding her motorcycle on the Garden State Parkway in Woodcliff Lake when a driver cut in front of her, hitting her tire with the back of the car, according to her husband. Merick crashed, and the driver kept going.

Mernick is out of ICU at the Hackensack University Medical Center after doctors removed her spleen, but her recovery will take several weeks, her husband says. 

"She still has a crack in her shoulder," said John Mernick. "They just took her down for more X rays this morning, they don't know if they are going to operate or not." 

Joan told her family it happened so fast that she was unable to get a good description of the vehicle. Now her husband and state police are looking for witnesses. 

"I just want a face for the crime. Take responsibility," said John, who has been married to Joan 25 years. 

John says his wife is an experienced rider and was able to lay the bike down to avoid even further injuries. He said her helmet and armor protected her. Joan already wants to get back on the motorcycle but he's nervous.

"I'm the one who always does the stupid stuff, and I'm the the one who always takes the risks," he said. "In 25 years, I have never said no to her, and I feel guilty now, when she said she wanted to get her own bike and her own license and stuff." 

Despite being in the hospital, Joan's spirits are up, John said. 

A driver says her steering wheel locked up sending her straight into a home along W Cheltenham Avenue in Philadelphia's East Oak Lane neighborhood. NBC10’s Pamela Osborne has the details.

A car slammed into an East Oak Lane home leaving a huge hole in the side of the Cheltenham Avenue home. The home is owned by Blossom Philadelphia, which supplies group home services for people with special needs.

Target issued a recall for a series of water-absorbing easter and dinosaur toys Thursday, after it was found they present a serious ingestion hazard.

The Hatch & Grow Easter Eggs, Easter Grow Toys and Hatch Your Own Dino toys, were sold at Target stores nationwide in February and March. They pose a risk to children if ingested, as they can expand inside of children’s bodies and cause intestinal obstructions, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The recalled products can be identified with model numbers 234-25-1200 and 234-09-0016.

More than 500,000 have been sold nationwide, but no injuries have been reported thus far.

The toys can cause vomiting, dehydration, severe discomfort and potentially be life threatening. If one of the toys is ingested, it must be removed with surgery, and the toys may not show up on an X-ray, the CPSC said.

Consumers can take the toys to any Target store for a full refund and call 800- 440-0680 with any questions.

Goldey-Beacom College is under fire after an ad criticizing music majors was sent to prospective students.

The promotional mailing sent to high schoolers was an advertisement for the college’s new Pep Band.

“Heading off to college to major in music? Well, good luck with that. Want a college degree that leads to a real job?" asked the Goldey-Beacom brochure.

The ad did not win over parents, prospective students or musicians.

The Goldey-Beacom Facebook page has been hammered with angry comments about the college discouraging students from pursing careers in the arts.

"The Fine Arts are what makes us human, and if your institution thought it was okay to imply anyone who has pursued a degree in them you certainly cannot claim to be a place of higher learning!" one Facebook user stated.

Another user said, "The recent mail out belittling Music Education and music in general was horribly offensive and completely insensitive to your target audience! I am completely appalled that you could even think to promote such an insulting message to young people!"

In response, the college released a statement on their Facebook page : “The message lacked good taste and respect for the fine arts in general, and music in particular. This communication was not fully vetted and approved prior to mailing, and certainly does not reflect our core values as an institution.”