At least one person was injured after a school bus and a trolley crashed in the University City section of Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon.
The crash occurred on 38th Street and Lancaster Avenue. At least one person was hurt. Officials have not yet revealed the victim's condition or what led to the accident.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
The search for two suspects in two home break-ins in Germantown led to a police chase and crash that injured four people in the East Falls section of Philadelphia Wednesday morning.
The ordeal began shortly before 10 a.m. as police were searching for two people accused of breaking through the doors of two homes on Wade Street near Manheim Street in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. Police say they found the suspects’ vehicle on the 5000 block of Wade Street and attempted to stop it.
The driver, an unidentified 26-year-old man, allegedly sped off leading to a police chase. During the pursuit, the suspect drove through the soccer field of the William Penn Charter School on the 3000 block of W. School House Lane, police said. He then struck Cecilia Armstrong’s SUV as she was driving on Wissahickon Avenue, setting off a chain reaction crash involving other vehicles.
“He was flying though,” Armstrong told NBC10. “I saw the cops going through. He just swerved and hit us.”
Armstrong and three others were all injured in the multi-vehicle crash but are currently in stable condition.
After the crash, the suspects got out of the vehicle and fled on foot, police said.
“He turned, bounced off of this one first and then the next,” Armstrong said. “He ran out.”
The driver ran into the basement of the Charter Court at East Falls Apartment Complex on Wissahickon Avenue but was captured by pursuing officers, according to investigators. Police say they also recovered a gun on the street and another weapon in the car. They continue to search for the second suspect.
William Penn Charter School was placed on lockdown as police searched for the second suspect. The lockdown was later lifted however.
GOOD NEWS FOR ALL
With all the partisan fights in Congress, for just about every subject, have you heard the great weather news?
Can you believe it? A bi-partisan bill, already signed into law? You probably haven’t heard about it from most radio and TV news outlets since there was no controversy, no threats, and no lawsuits about it. It is known as the “Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, H.R. 353, and it became law April 18th.
“This bill requires NOAA to prioritize weather research to improve weather data, modeling, computing, forecasts, and warnings for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy”
The law is designed to improve things such as:
* Tornado warnings-better “lead times”
* Hurricanes-better forecasts of rapid intensification (a current weakness)
* Hurricanes-better forecasts & communication of storm surges
*Communication research for WATCH and WARNING products
* Longer-range predictions (from two weeks to two years ahead)
Now all we need is more money and smarter planning to get U.S. computer models on par with the world-leading European model. But this is a good start.
WORSE SPRING STORMS DUE TO WARM GULF OF MEXICO?
There has already been a very active start to the 2017 Tornado Season.
The first four months of 2017 have ALL been WAAAY more active than normal for the number of tornadoes. According to the numbers from the Storm Prediction Center, 650 tornadoes have been reported in the U.S. from January 1 to April 30th. That is almost three times the average of the prior three years average of 239!
There are several factors that could help explain that big increase. Weather patterns change all the time, so there can be big differences from year to year in the number of tornadoes. But one constant has been the record warm water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. A southerly wind over warm waters leads to record warmth and humidity. Those are two of the ingredients in many tornado “outbreaks”-when large numbers of tornadoes hit in a single day or two.
A common measure of the energy that can lead to severe storms is called CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy). A higher CAPE is an important ingredient. Here is a great graphic that shows how a warm Gulf leads to high CAPE values, which in turn can lead to an increase in tornadoes.
If a record warm Gulf of Mexico can lead to a huge increase in tornadoes in 2017, what can the continued warming of the Gulf do in the future? Some studies have suggested that there may not be more total DAYS with tornadoes in our warmed future, but that there may be more tornadoes in the big outbreak days. That’s bad news, because many of the strongest and deadliest tornadoes occur on “outbreak days”.
TROUBLE IN THE ARCTIC
After a record warm year for the globe in 2016, many experts predicted that the rate of Arctic ice melt would slow down in 2017. So far, that hasn’t happened. A lot of ice is melting this year, even without the major El Nino that boosted global temperatures last year. Here’s the latest:
If you’ve heard or read about Arctic ice “recovering” at some time in the past few years, it’s just a myth. It can change somewhat from year to year, but the overall trend is clear: down….way down. The extra melted ice does not add to sea level by itself (like an ice cube melting in water doesn’t raise the water level). But more heat is absorbed by the water than the ice that used to be there. That warms the area. And that melts more ice. Which leads to more warming. Which melts even more ice.
It takes a lot of unseasonable warmth to melt so much ice, and they’ve experienced temperatures as high as FIFTY DEGREES above normal this past winter!
What about the ice at the other end of the world-in the Antarctic? You may have heard about increases in that area. Not this year. Record low ice coverage has been reported there, too.
That’s more than just a small drop. And since Antarctica is a land mass, ice melting there does impact sea level rise.
IT’S SHORE BAD TIMING WITH DUNES
I’ve written about dunes several times in the past, and firmly believe that they help protect both the beach and the houses nearby. Margate, NJ has been in the news for years, trying to refuse the offer of free dunes from the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They lost that battle (as they should have). But are they, and neighboring beaches being punished for the trouble they caused?
When is the worst time to do a beach replenishment/dune project? In the middle of summer, of course. And guess when this is going to happen? I know Margate caused a lot of aggravation with their protests, but what has Ventnor done to have part of their summer ruined? (A personal note: my father lives in a hi-rise on the beach in Ventnor).
(The beach in Margate: totally flat, with no dunes. Picture courtesy, me)
Originally, the beach project in Ventnor was scheduled for early fall, but now the period covers much of June and part of July. Yes, the part that includes the 4th of July. According to philly.com, “thousand-foot stretches of beaches will be closed at a time, and the noisy pumping of sand through snaking pipes will continue day and night.” Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
The project in Margate is scheduled after the 4th of July weekend, but will occur during part of the peak of the summer season. The New Jersey DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) says the inconvenient schedule has nothing to do with the expensive court battle waged by Margate. Regardless, it probably will feel like punishment to residents and visitors.
Students and parents are learning about an investigation of a Methacton High School employee. A spokesperson for the Methacton School District told NBC10 they were in the process of “conducting an internal investigation” into a matter that was brought to their attention Tuesday.
They did not reveal the reason for the investigation or the identity of the employee but say he or she is currently on administrative leave.
Students and parents at Methacton High School told NBC10 the employee is a teacher. School officials have not yet confirmed this however.
Investigators say the investigation surrounds possibly inappropriate texts between a student and teacher. No charges have been filed and Pennsylvania State Police are currently investigating along with the school district.
A woman moved and canceled her gas service but later found out she was owed hundreds of dollars in credit from the company. After months without getting payback, she contacted NBC10’s Harry Hairston and NBC10 Responds.
Police arrested a man accused of filming, attacking and tying up a teen girl while armed with a knife inside the bathroom of a Barnes and Noble store in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
A 14-year-old girl told police she was visiting the Barnes and Noble in the Broadcasting Square shopping center in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania Tuesday around 8 p.m. with her boyfriend and his mother. The girl said she had entered the women’s bathroom inside the store when she noticed a man holding a cellphone over the top of the bathroom stall. The girl told investigators she believed the man was using it to photograph or record her.
Police say the man then attacked the girl as she left the stall. He allegedly forced her at knifepoint into another stall, threatened her and bound her with zip ties when the two began to struggle. During the struggle, the man cut himself and began to bleed, police said.
The girl told investigators the man continued to hold her inside the stall while bleeding on the floor but later agreed to cut the ties off her wrists. The girl said her boyfriend’s mother then went into the bathroom to check on her and she broke free of her restraints. The suspect then fled out of the bathroom, police said.
Responding officers captured the suspect who they identified as Dustin Cornelius, 19, of Richland, Pennsylvania. Police said he still had a knife in his possession and they also recovered his cellphone and zip ties. Cornelius was treated for a laceration and charged with unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, simple assault and harassment. He was committed to the Berks County Prison after failing to post bail.
The girl told police she had never seen or met Cornelius prior to the incident.
Dozens of kids at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are getting the chance to go to prom. NBC10’s Erin Coleman shows us how the kids got the chance to forget about being patients for the day.
As promised, Philadelphia immigration advocates have started a campaign to force the resignation of Latina CEO Carolina DiGiorgio, who was spotted last month sitting front row at President Donald Trump’s Harrisburg rally.
Footage showed the head of Congreso de Latinos Unidos clapping and taking photos with her phone as Trump decried unauthorized immigration and promised to “build the wall.”
After Philadelphia Weekly first reported on the incident, local immigration leaders immediately called for her removal.
Now, an open source campaign has been created on Mijente, a crowdfunding platform that is self-described as “pro-Black, pro-woman, pro-queer, pro-poor.”
“She is seen nodding her head and as [Trump] continues to criminalize Latinos, immigrants and all communities of color,” the online petition reads. “Many of us in Philadelphia are heartbroken and disappointed.
“It is the duty of the board of directors of any nonprofit to hold its leadership accountable and to ensure the fulfillment of its mission. We the undersigned do not have faith that Congreso's CEO, Carolina Cabrera DiGiorgio, is able to adequately enforce this mission or to lead one of the nation's largest Latino organizations given her affiliation with President Donald Trump and his racist attacks on our community.
“We ask that Congreso's Board of Directors listen to the community it says it serves and ask for Carolina's resignation immediately.”
DiGiorgio’s husband is the chairman of Pennsylvania’s Republican party. She was born in Honduras but came to the United States with her family in the 1980s. Supporters told NBC10 that DiGiorgio’s politics have never been a secret and do not interfere with her ability to run the city’s largest Latino-serving organization.
A separate letter from local immigration organizations is forthcoming this week asking for DiGiorgio to step down.
A call to DiGiorgio’s office for comment was not immediately returned.
Surveillance video shows an SUV that police say was stolen crashing through a Philadelphia deli and nearly striking a pregnant woman sitting inside.
Genesis Dejada Torres, a 19-year-old woman who is 5-months pregnant, was working behind the counter of the Frankford Deli at Frankford Avenue and Tioga Street around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. As she was sitting down a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder suddenly crashed through the store causing items inside to collapse on top of her and another person behind the counter.
Amazingly, neither Torres nor the three other people in the store were seriously hurt. They were all taken to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Torres told NBC10 her unborn baby was not harmed.
"Really crazy though," she said. "I was so nervous yesterday. Like what the heck happened here?"
Torres said she sat up at just the right time to avoid a more serious injury.
"If she had been sitting down closer it could have pushed her onto the register," Israel Maldonado, another employee of the deli, told NBC10.
Police say an 18-year-old man was behind the wheel of the Pathfinder which had been stolen in Philadelphia Monday. The suspect was allegedly driving about 100 mph northbound on Frankford Avenue when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into several other cars before slamming into the deli.
Police apprehended the teen and took him into custody. They are still searching for other suspects who may have also been inside the stolen vehicle.
As police continue to investigate, Torres is thankful both she and her baby are okay.
"It's like I won the lottery," she said.
Workers say the deli will likely be closed for several more days as they continue to make repairs.
NBC10's Vai Sikahema received the Stan Hochman Compassion for Kids Award by the National Adoption Center. Vai was recognized for his years of work hosting Wednesday's Child on NBC10. The segments feature children hoping to find their forever homes.
NBC10's Vince Lattanzio hosted the OUT@Work event at Comcast headquarters in Center City. The event drew attention to the power of LGBTQ resources in the workplace. Comcast is the parent company of NBC10.
Sophia Bush, who plays Detective Erin Lindsay on the hit NBC show "Chicago P.D.", spoke to NBC10's Jacqueline London about her role as well as the relationship between police and the community.
Here are the 10 things you need to know to start your day from your friends at NBC10.
TODAY'S TOP STORY
SUV Nearly Strikes Pregnant Woman After Crashing through Deli: Surveillance video shows an SUV that police say was stolen crashing through a Philadelphia deli and nearly striking a pregnant woman sitting inside. Genesis Dejada Torres, a 19-year-old woman who is 5-months pregnant, was working behind the counter of the Frankford Deli at Frankford Avenue and Tioga Street around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. As she was sitting down a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder suddenly crashed through the store causing items inside to collapse on top of her and another person behind the counter. Amazingly, neither Torres nor the three other people in the store were seriously hurt. They were all taken to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Torres told NBC10 her unborn baby was not harmed. Torres said she sat up at just the right time to avoid a more serious injury. Police say an 18-year-old man was behind the wheel of the Pathfinder which had been stolen in Philadelphia Monday. The suspect was allegedly driving about 100 mph northbound on Frankford Avenue when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into several other cars before slamming into the deli. Police apprehended the teen and took him into custody. They are still searching for other suspects who may have also been inside the stolen vehicle.
YOUR FIRST ALERT FORECAST
Thursday is expected to be sunny with temperatures expected to hit 95 degrees. Friday could see some thunderstorms also with temperatures in the 90s. Saturday and Sunday are expected to cool down with temperaures back in the 70s. High Temp: 95 degrees. Get your full NBC10 First Alert forecast here.
WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY
Mayor, Council Ousted After Political Brawl Over Police: Mayor Ryan Sloyer's ego got the best of him -- and left his political career in tatters. That's what some of his longtime neighbors in the tiny borough of East Greenville, Montgomery County, believed led to a landslide loss for the incumbent in the Republican primary Tuesday. In a place as small as East Greenville, about 50 miles from Philadelphia, a landslide can amount to 100 votes -- 114 to be exact. Sloyer lost to challenger Keith Gerhart, 188 votes to 74. He wasn't alone. All three incumbents on East Greenville's Council who were up for re-election also suffered defeat by wide margins, including two Republicans who closely aligned themselves with Sloyer. The now-lame duck mayor battled a wave of opposition from residents and business owners for more than a year to tear apart the decades-old regional police force that patrols East Greenville and neighboring Pennsburg. His plan to create a new department serving only East Greenville became so acrimonious in recent months.
AROUND THE WORLD
Russia Probe Gets Special Counsel: The Justice Department abruptly appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller Wednesday night as a special counsel to lead a federal investigation into allegations that Donald Trump's campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election that put him in the White House. Mueller will have sweeping powers and the authority to prosecute any crimes he uncovers. The surprise announcement to hand the probe over to Mueller, a lawman with deep bipartisan respect, was a striking shift for Trump's Justice Department, which had resisted increasingly loud calls from Democrats for an outside prosecutor. It immediately escalated the legal stakes -- and the potential political damage -- for a president who has tried to dismiss the matter as partisan witch hunt and a "hoax.” Mueller's broad mandate gives him not only oversight of the Russia probe, but also "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." That would surely include Trump's firing last week of FBI Director James Comey.
SUV Sinks Into Beach as Man Tries to Take Photos of It: A man trying to take scenic photos of his SUV by the Jersey Shore ended up trying to dig the vehicle out after it started sinking into the water-logged sand, officials said. State Park Police responded to a call Tuesday about a vehicle stuck at Island Beach State Park, about 15 miles southeast of Toms River, officials said. A tow company arrived around the same time to find the man at the surf line with his vehicle. Video posted to Facebook shows the man using what appears to be a shovel as he tries to dig free the white Land Rover from the sand. Officials said it was low tide when help arrived and the tow company was able to easily remove the SUV. The driver had a Mobile Sportfishing Vehicle permit, which allows him to operate a 4-wheel drive vehicle on fishing beaches. He was not issued a summons, officials said. Witnesses said the man insisted on driving the vehicle away after it was towed, even though its lights were flashing and its engine was making strange sounds.
SPORTS SPOT
Phillies Lose to Texas: The Phillies lost 3 to 9 against the Texas Rangers. Get your full sports news at CSNPhilly.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
See more Top News Photos here.
THROUGH IGER'S EYES
@markcmorrisphotography captured this snowy photo at Valley Forge National Park.
Have an awesome Instagram photo you'd like to share? Tag it with #NBC10Buzz.
TODAY'S VIRAL VIDEO
This is what happens when you try to walk across a pool on a board. Watch more here.
Prom Held for CHOP Patients: Dozens of kids at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia got the chance to go to prom. NBC10’s Erin Coleman shows us how the kids got the chance to forget about being patients for the day. Read more.
That's what you need to know. We've got more stories worthy of your time in the Breakfast Buzz section. Click here to check them out.
A New Jersey Transit train barreled down tracks on its journey from New York City to Trenton Tuesday night for roughly eight stops -- about a 30-minute ride -- with an open door, video obtained by NBC 4 New York shows.
Rider Jeffrey Spitery said the Northeast Corridor train stopped at Newark Penn Station for 5 to 10 minutes while a conductor searched for an open door on the left side of the train. Eventually, the train pulled out and continued on its way.
Spitery says that he walked up toward a vestibule as his train approached his stop in Metuchen and noticed "a door wide open with people standing next to it while we were thundering down the track."
Spitery recorded cell phone video of the train cruising along the tracks with the door ajar. Passengers are seen moving about the vestibule, the wind generated from the moving train whipping their hair.
"It took me the entire distance of the rest of the train (about half) to find a conductor," Spitery said. "This is obviously not a safe way to operate a commuter train."
NJ Transit said it immediately pulled the train out of service and is investigating. The transit agency told News 4 that a train is not supposed to move if a door is open.
"We strongly encourage customers to immediately report this type of incident to a crew member on board the train," a spokesperson said.
Former FBI Director Robert Muellerr has been selected to serve as special counsel overseeing the Trump Campaign-Russia Probe. NBC10's Pamela Osborne has details.
If you've been waiting for the reasonable workout weather, Thursday morning was the time to get out and exercise. NBC10's Katy Zachry provides tips on how to exercise while avoiding the scorching heat including working out before the sun heats temps into the 90s.
Brandon Bostian, the engineer operating Amtrak 188 when it derailed in Northeast Philadelphia two years ago killing eight passengers and injuring 200 others, surrendered to police Thursday on manslaughter charges.
Philadelphia Police handcuffed Bostian on the sidewalk as he arrived at Central Detectives in the city's Fairmount section around 10 a.m. The 33-year-old Somerville, Massachusetts, resident remained silent, looking straight ahead and his attorney offered "no comment at this point."
Bostian faces eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of causing or risking a catastrophe and numerous counts of reckless endangerment. [[422975744, C]]
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro charged Bostian Friday, a mere seven hours before the statute of limitations was set to expire in the case, and following a legal challenge by the family of a woman killed in the derailment.
Amtrak 188 was traveling 106 mph when it jumped the northbound tracks negotiating the curve at Frankford Junction on May 12, 2015. Several cars overturned and one was left crushed and contorted. The curve's speed limit was 50 mph.
Eight passengers were killed and 200 were injured. Bostian told investigators he couldn't remember the moments leading up to the crash. He suffered a blow to the head during the derailment.
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The case was transferred to Shapiro's office on Thursday after Philadelphia Municipal Court President Judge Marsha Neifield ordered a private criminal complaint could move forward.
Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams previously declined to file charges against the engineer. After Williams' office denied charges, the family of Rachel Jacobs filed a private criminal complaint in Philadelphia Municipal court. A judge ruled Bostian should be charged and the case was referred to Shapiro's office.
"I commend our outstanding team in the Office of the Attorney General who worked diligently and thoughtfully around the clock to enable us to be in this position to pursue justice on behalf of the victims of this deadly crash," Shapiro said in a statement.
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An intense federal investigation focused on what Bostian was doing in the moments leading up to the derailment.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said Bostian accelerated to full-throttle as the New York-bound train traversed a straightaway through North Philadelphia.
The NTSB analyzed the engineer's cellphone to determine whether he was distracted by the device. They found it had been turned off before and during the incident. It was later ruled that radio chatter about a rock strike to a nearby SEPTA train's windshield stole Bostian's attention that night.
He lost track of where he was on the route; the realization that the curve was looming ahead in the darkness didn't come until seconds before the crash, investigators said. Bostian hit the brakes right before he felt the train tipping over.
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"I remember holding onto the controls tightly and feeling like, okay well this is it, I'm going over," Bostian told investigators. He said he remembered speeding up and later hitting the emergency break, but nothing in between.
When the engine and the six cars in tow left the tracks near Wheatsheaf Lane around 9:15 p.m., passengers were tossed like dolls in the carriages. The first passenger car hit steel support beams suspending electrical wires. The beams sliced through the car, bending the coach into an unrecognizable shape. Some passengers were ejected from the train through broken emergency windows and were crushed.
Eight passengers died: Derrick Griffith, 42, a dean at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York; Rachel Jacobs, 39, the CEO of Philadelphia-based company ApprenNet and a mother of a toddler; Abid Gilani, 55, who worked for Wells Fargo; Justin Zemser, 20, a Naval Academy midshipman; Jim Gaines, 48, a father and Associated Press video software architect; Bob Gildersleeve, 45, a father and vice president of Ecolab; Laura Finamore, 47, a senior account director at Cushman & Wakefield; and Giuseppe Piras, 41, a wine and oil executive from Sardinia, Italy.
Two hundred other passengers were hurt with injuries ranging from paralysis to broken bones and scratches. Police, firefighters and nearby homeowners helped to carry the injured from the tracks to waiting ambulances and buses. Those who could walk were offered water and a place to sit inside stranger's homes.
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Amtrak agreed to a $265-million settlement with the injured and families of those killed. Bostian also filed suit against Amtrak in January, accusing the railroad of not providing him a safe working environment.
The railroad came under fire after the catastrophe for not having a speed control system on the rails. Called Positive Train Control, the system will automatically slow a train that is speeding. Amtrak later said the system was installed on the tracks, but not activated. It has since been deployed.
Bostian has not spoken publicly about the derailment in the two years since. The NTSB investigation said he was a train enthusiast who had good knowledge of the speeds and tracks he was operating on. [[422153753, C]]
Two trains operating on the same route were struck by flying rocks that night — a SEPTA Regional Rail train and an Amtrak Acela heading for Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. Passengers on the Acela shared pictures of a shattered window with NBC10 following the derailment.
Experts theorized that Amtrak 188's locomotive could have also been hit by a flying rock, the impact of which may have disoriented Bostian, but the engineer's memory loss and a lack of additional evidence left the hypothesis unproven.
The National Adoption Center presented NBC 10's Vai Sikahema with the Stan Hochman Compassion for Kids Award Wednesday. Vai was recognized for his many years of work hosting Wednesday's Child here on NBC 10.
