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Minivan Driver Kills Man, Doesn't Try to Stop, Police Say

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The driver of a minivan made no attempt to stop after striking and killing a man crossing a Philadelphia street overnight.

The speeding gray van struck the 57-year-old victim crossing S 67th Street near Linmore Avenue in the Elmwood section of the city — near Bartram High School — around 10 p.m. Sunday, Philadelphia Police said.

The impact cracked the driver’s windshield and left the man dead in the street but it didn’t stop the driver, investigators said.

Police didn’t immediately have a more detailed description of the striking minivan or the hit-and-run driver.



Photo Credit: NBC10

NJ Officer Shot, Saved by Bulletproof Vest, Mayor Says

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A police officer who was part of a SWAT team delivering a warrant to a suspected drug dealer was shot Saturday as he entered the home, but saved by his bulletproof vest, officials said. 

The suspect's 2-year-old daughter was in the home at the time, but wasn't injured, according to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. 

In fact, no officers fired their weapons during the encounter, Baraka said. The SWAT team entered the apartment and arrested both of the toddler's parents without discharging their weapons. 

"We were able to get a dangerous person off the street today without incident," Baraka said.

James Dennard, 22, of Newark, was in his basement apartment on Goodwin Avenue when a SWAT team arrived early Saturday morning, police Capt. Derrick Glenn said. 

He didn't respond so police breached the door, police said. When they entered, Dennard fired a single shot up a stairwell, striking an officer in the chest, police said. 

The officer, who has been with the department for 15 years, was saved by his bulletproof vest, Glenn said. He was evaluated and released from University Hospital.

Dennard was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and many other charges, police said. 

Letasia Phillips, the 24-year-old mother of the toddler, was arrested and charged with child endangerment among other charges. 

The child was put in the custody of a relative who lived upstairs, police said. 

The warrant was for narcotics and 40 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia was found in the apartment, Glenn said. The raid followed a 30-day investigation stemming from neighbor complaints.

Neighbors praised police for how they handled the incident. 

"You've got to keep this community clean," Marc Wright said. "That was a great job." 

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Correction: An earlier version of this story, based on information from Newark police, said the suspect shot through a door. Police later corrected that statement and said the officer opened the door before he was shot. 

Pot Arrests 7 Times More Likely for Black Adults in Suburbs

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With Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program just a few months away from debuting, black adults across the state are still 8 times more likely than white adults to be arrested for cannabis, according to a new report released by the American Civil Liberties Union.

In Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties, black adults are nearly 7 times more likely than white adults to be arrested for pot, according to the report. In Delaware County, the rate drops down to nearly 5 times more likely. And in Berks County, it's around 4 times more likely.

“Racial disparities have actually gotten worse,” Andrew Hoover, spokesman for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said. “These arrests create major barriers for people in their daily lives.”

The rates are especially glaring because “marijuana use is virtually identical across the races,” Matt Stroud, of the ACLU, said.

Philadelphia, which decriminalized small amounts of personal use pot three years ago, has the lowest racial disparity with black adults three times more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related offenses compared to their white counterparts

“That’s a growing problem because we see these arrests are primarily young people,” Chris Goldstein, Temple University adjunct professor and marijuana activist, added.

Roughly 70 percent of all arrests in Philadelphia were millennials between the ages of 18 and 30 years old.

“This is a very serious thing for young people - they lose their chances of going to college and getting jobs,” Goldstein said.

The report used data submitted by Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies to the state Uniform Crime Reporting System.

Between 2010 and 2016, nearly 178,000 people were arrested throughout the state for pot. The majority of those arrests were for possession, which accounts for half of the state’s total drug arrests even as cities and counties drown under the weight of a burgeoning and persistent opioid crisis.

Philadelphia decriminalized cannabis in October 2014. A $25 fine was implemented for people possessing fewer than 30 grams of marijuana and up to 8 grams of hash, but police maintained the power to arrest people at their discretion.

“When you leave things to be subjective, racial bias creeps in. We need to decriminalize across the board,” State Rep. Jordan Harris of Philadelphia and chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, said.

Decriminalization in Philadelphia led to an 88 percent decrease in marijuana-related offenses in the last three years, according to the report. But arrests surged in other parts of the state. Pennsylvania’s overall possession arrest numbers for adults and minors combined increased by nearly 25 percent between 2010 and 2016.

“I would much rather my tax dollars going to our police stopping gun violence, making sure child predators stay off our streets, than arrest a guy who smokes a doobie on his way to work or his way from work,” Harris said.

This is a developing story. NBC10 is waiting for comment from the Philadelphia Police Department and State Sen. Daylin Leach for comment. Please check back for updates.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Carson Wentz Has NFL's Hottest-Selling Jersey

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The Eagles are on top of the football world, and their quarterback is on top of the jersey world.

Carson Wentz's jersey is currently the best-selling NFL jersey, according to sporting goods retail giant Dick's Sporting Goods.

Dick's maintains a weekly ranking of jersey leaders based on sales at all their stores, and this week's ranking shows Wentz ahead of two other quarterbacks — someone named Tom Brady of the Patriots is second and Dak Prescott of the Cowboys is third.

According to Dick's Jersey Report, Wentz's jersey was No. 2 in the NFL last year behind Prescott, but his nationally televised three-touchdown performance in the Eagles' win Thursday night in Charlotte over the Panthers elevated him into the No. 1 spot.

Rounding out the top 10 currently in jersey sales are Von Miller, Mitch Trubisky, Luke Kuechly, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., Ezekiel Elliott and Rob Gronkowski.

Wentz ranks fifth in the NFL with 1,584 passing yards, tied for second with 13 touchdowns, seventh with a 99.6 passer rating and sixth with a 1.45 interception ratio.

The Eagles share the NFL's best record with the Chiefs at 5-1 and own the league's longest current winning streak at four. That has elevated the Eagles into the No. 3 overall jersey team, according to Dick's, behind only the Patriots and Cowboys. Last week, the Eagles were fifth, behind the Cowboys, Steelers, Patriots and Broncos.

Zach Ertz, who caught two touchdown passes Thursday night, is the next-highest ranked Eagle, with the No. 53 jersey in the NFL. Wentz and Ertz are the only two in the top 100.

Former Eagles ranked in the top 100 by Dick's are LeSean McCoy of the Bills (No. 50), Alejandro Villanueva of the Steelers (No. 84), Jeremy Maclin of the Ravens (No. 85), Danny Amendola of the Patriots (No. 92), Sam Bradford of the Vikings (No. 95) and DeMarco Murray of the Titans (No. 100).

Dick's Sporting Goods has 610 stores in 47 states, including 14 in the Philadelphia area.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Two Children Found Dead in Bathtub in Delaware House

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Two young children were found dead Monday morning in a bathtub in a home in Wilmington, Delaware, police at the scene said.

The mother of the two boys called police to alert them of the deaths, police said.

They were inside a house in the 800 block of West Ninth Street, police said, initially referring to the incident as a "death investigation." The mother is talking with detectives.

Officials at the scene said the entire block was evacuated due to a possible gas leak, but no preliminary cause of death had been determined by noon.

"This investigation is in its early stage and no further information is being released at this time," a Wilmington police official said in a statement about 10:30 a.m.

Check back for more details to this breaking news as they become known.



Photo Credit: Tim Furlong/NBC10

Liberty Medal Recipients Through the Years

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The Liberty Medal honors people who continually fight for freedom and human rights. Here is a list of the recipients

Photo Credit: Getty Images

NBC10 First Alert Weather: Tracking Cooler Temperatures

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Clouds are sticking around today, but they won't last. Meteorologist Krystal Klei has all the details in the forecast.

"Wrestling Jerusalem" Comes to Suzanna Roberts Theatre

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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for most of our lifetimes and a new one-man show explored the humanity at the heart of this history. Aaron Davidman and Paige Price stop by the studio to talk about the show.


Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day

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This Wednesday, there is a focus on a national initiative to help breast cancer patients learn about their options for reconstruction after surgery. Chief of Plastic Surgery at Penn Medicine, Dr. Joseph Serletti, and one of his patients, Barbara Scudder, to talk about the celebration.

Global Philly 2017 is Underway

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Global Philly 2017 is a 45 day, international event that is currently underway. Here to tell us all about it is Zabeth Teellucksingh, the Executive Director of The Global Philadelphia Association.

NBC10 First Alert: Warming Up and Staying Dry Through Week

Dire Situation Faces Residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands

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Sara Hess, a South Jersey native, lives on Saint Thomas with her husband. She evacuated before the storm and can't return to the island for three months. She has made it her mission in the meantime to get essential items to those still on the island.

Sandy Contractor Was 'Deceptive,' $1.3M Sought, N.J. AG Says

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A South Jersey contractor has been named in a civil complaint filed Monday by the state Attorney General's office for allegedly using "deceptive practices" on at least 23 reconstruction jobs following Superstorm Sandy.

The contractor, Lawrence McAllister, through his company Werks Intended LLC, aka McAllister Building Group, is alleged to have taken "money from consumers to renovate, rebuild and/or elevate Sandy-damaged homes and then abandoned unfinished projects without returning for weeks, months or at all," the Attorney General's office said in a statement.

NBC10 Investigators first profiled McAllister, who is based in Somers Point, in a story last month. Some of those 23 homeowners who paid him to do work on their damaged or destroyed homes following the 2012 storm claimed he never finished work for which they had paid him.

Jorge Barahona is one of those homeowners. NBC10 talked with him in September at the sight of a grassy lot in Atlantic City that once held a home he bought with his brother and father. 

The young man hoped a new house would by now be on a parcel Superstorm Sandy ruined five years ago.

But his family finances were hit with another wave of destruction in the last 18 months, he says, allegedly at the hands of McAllister.

"This is it, dirt again," he told NBC10 as he looked over the property. "We've been going through hell."

The ongoing struggle to be made whole serves as a warning for the massive recovery efforts now underway in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. Yearslong problems between stakeholders like homeowners and contractors, homeowners and insurance companies, state agencies and local government, continue to haunt New Jersey.

“It is an outrage that unprincipled, shameless contractors have taken advantage of residents whose homes were damaged by Superstorm Sandy,” Attorney General Christopher Porrino said. “This office will continue to pursue those whose fraudulent behavior has victimized these people again.”

In addition to seeking the return of $1.3 million to the 23 homeowners, Porrino's office is also seeking civil penalties against McAllister and a permanent injunction against the contractor and another defendant, Monica McAllister, from doing construction work in New Jersey.

NBC10 reported last month that Atlantic City police were also investigating some claims against McAllister and that a criminal complaint was filed against McAllister.

A problem at that time was that McAllister couldn't be found. Whether it was at his former Somers Point office or his old Ocean City home, those who hired him to do construction work couldn't get a hold of him.

McAllister did call NBC10 after messages left for comment, but he declined to discuss specifics.


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Crash Involving 2 Trucks Shuts Down I-495 SB in Wilmington

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All southbound lanes are closed on I-495 in Wilmington, Delaware after a crash involving a tree-trimming truck and a tractor trailer.

The crash occurred Monday afternoon in the southbound lanes of I-495 at the Exit 141 off-ramp. The driver of at least one of the vehicles was injured and hazmat crews were also called to the scene due to a fuel spill. Officials have not yet revealed the driver's condition.

All southbound lanes are closed at the scene of the crash.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

Even Philly's Poshest Neighborhoods Have a Rat Issue

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Like many old cities in the United States, Philadelphia has a rat infestation problem. And these rodents could be scurrying right under your feet at this moment.


Trailer With Century's Worth of Family's History Stolen

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A New Jersey man is desperate to find the thieves who stole a trailer that had 100 years’ worth of his family's history inside.

Police say two unidentified men inside a 2002-2006 Chevrolet Avalanche Z71 truck drove to a house on the 100 block of Church road in Medford, New Jersey last Tuesday at 8:05 a.m. Surveillance video shows one of the men look through the door of the home. Both men then attached their truck to a black and silver 2017 Scout Bravo enclosed trailer outside the home and drove off.

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“I know they didn’t take it for the stuff in the trailer,” said the trailer’s owner Ron Copsetta. “I knew somebody wanted the trailer but that doesn’t matter. It wasn’t theirs.”

Copsetta, who has 11 siblings, is in the process of selling his family home of 90 years and had just packed the trailer with valuable items, including several family heirlooms, old black and white photos of a home built in the 1920s and military marching papers. 

“To us they’re priceless,” Copsetta said. “To them they are trash.”

The family heirlooms include the navy uniforms of Copsetta’s father and grandfather.

“Uniforms from 1908, like the USS Buffalo would be embroidered on the hat,” Copsetta said. “That was his first ship in 1908.”

The truck the suspects were driving in has chrome door handles and a chrome gas tank fill lid, police said. 

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Copsetta is praying that someone knows or saw something so that his family history isn’t lost for good.

“There’s a lot of people going to suffer over this and unfortunately it’s all gonna look like it’s my fault,” he said. “I don’t know where they would dump them or what. They are all in waterproof containers but that won’t be forever."

Copsetta also has a message for the thieves.

“Just bring the stuff back,” he said. “I’ll give you the trailer. I’ll sign the title to the trailer. Bring the stuff back.”


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NBC10 Responds: Family Says They Have Too Much Insurance

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A viewer called Harry Hairston at NBC10 Responds after receiving bills from an insurance company they didn't know they had.

10 Complaints a Day: Philly's Perpetual Battle With Rats

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One becomes 10. Ten becomes 50. Fifty becomes...

That describes Philadelphia's age-old rat problem as much as it describes the complaints the city's health officials get about said rodents.

Like many of America's older cities, with miles of undergound corridors and alley ways, rats aren't hard to track down. But they are hard to control.

NBC10 Investigators found that workers with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health's Vector Control program are trying their best to keep up with the rodents.

"We'll respond to any complaint of rats," Ray Delaney of Vector Control said. "We'll bait any rat burrow we come across."

But with over 7,000 complaints of rats in the last two years — about 10 on average each day — it's less a war to win and more a challenge of containment.

"The city will never be out of rats," Delaney said.

Taking a walk around Rittenhouse Square with rodentologist Bobby Corrigan reveals the (somewhat) hidden world all around Philadelphia. He pointed out holes in walls and pavement.

"This species that's in Philadelphia loves sewers," Corrigan said. "They're protected all year round and stuff comes down to the sewers, food comes by. Water comes by."

He said the neverending battle is still worth fighting because a controlled population is better than an infestation.

"Rats can chew electrical cables and make holes in gas lines," Corrigan said. "They do cause fire or cause explosions when they knaw into gas lines. It's just not an animal we want close to us."

Anyone can call Philadelphia's Rat Complaint Hotline (215) 685-9000. The Vector Control program can be found online here.

Albright: Players in Kneeling Controversy Can Rejoin Team

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A Berks County, Pennsylvania college is offering to reinstate three football players; one who was kicked off the team for kneeling during the national anthem, and two who were kicked off for not kneeling during the coin toss. 

"What we understood to be shared agreement among players, student leaders, and coaches has not been adequately supported," Albright College president Jacquelyn S. Fetrow wrote in a letter to the Albright community. "As a result, each of the students dismissed from the football team for failure to comply with the team’s shared agreement established for that day has been offered reinstatement to the team."

The Division III school in Reading, Pennsylvania became embroiled in controversy last week for kicking backup quarterback Gyree Durante, a Norristown native and sophomore at the school, off the team. School officials said Durante went against what the college called a planned show of "team unity" when he kneeled during the national anthem before the team's matchup against Delaware Valley University on Oct. 7. It was the second game in row Durante had kneeled during the anthem, a gesture that he said was a protest against social injustices and racism in the country, echoing the sentiments of many professional players in the National Football League.

A spokeswoman for Albright College said Durante was kicked off the team for going against a team-wide decision to kneel during the coin toss of the game but stand during the anthem.

The spokeswoman said the action was recommended by the team’s leadership council, which is made up of 24 student-athletes selected annually by team members. She also said the players had an understanding that there may be consequences for anyone who chose not to support the team.

“One football player, who unbeknownst to the coach and the team, chose not to support team unity and has been dismissed from the team,” she wrote. “He remains a valued member of the Albright College student body.”

On Friday, Fetrow wrote on the school website that two more players were let go from the team after evidence arose that they didn't fully comply with the kneeling portion of the pre-game activities.

"Our ongoing investigation has uncovered additional evidence from last Saturday’s football game, which demonstrates two additional players chose not to follow the team’s shared commitment to unity. These players did not fully kneel when the team kneeled," Fetrow said in the statement posted online. "As before, these actions represent a failure to comply with team decision, actions which carry consequences."

In her newest statement Monday, Fetrow said they came to the decision to offer reinstatement for the three players after additional review of the situation "provided greater clarity."

"While we focused on the issue of trust and shared agreement on a football field, much larger issues of social and racial injustice were brought into the spotlight," she wrote. "These must be addressed. We are moving forward quickly and aggressively with a program that will engage our entire community, one that actively supports the full participation of all community members."

Officials have not yet revealed whether the three players have accepted the offer of reinstatement.

WATCH NOW: 230-Foot Smokestack in Wilmington Implodes

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Residents beware.

A 230-foot smokestack imploded Sunday at 8 a.m. in Wilmington, Delaware.

Real estate developer Buccini Pollin Group received a city permit to conduct the implosion at the former Bancroft Mills plant on the Brandywine River. The site is being cleared for future redevelopment, according to Delaware Business Now.

The immediate area will be cordoned off until noon. Spectators and park visitors must keep 1,000 feet away from the demolition site. Watch the action below:

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