A truck driver landed in the hospital after his truck overturned this morning near a DelDOT salt yard.
The truck flipped over in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 near the sandbox, a sand station in the middle of the highway near Exit 5B (Route 141) in New Castle, Del. shortly after 11 a.m.
Delaware State Police told NBC10 that the driver, 33-year-old Charles Purnell, was taken to Christiana Hospital.
One lane got by the scene of the crash but traffic slowed to a crawl from the Maryland State line to the split for I-295 (Delaware Memorial Bridge).
State police say the truck's passenger's side tires slipped into a ditch during the plow operation. That caused the Purnell to lose control, hit a guardrail and then flip onto its side.
DelDOT drivers spent the morning spreading salt and sand on area roads while plowing away up to 9 inches of snow in some areas.
Purnell, who suffered minor injuries in the crash, was treated and released from the hospital Monday afternoon.
Lawyers for a severely injured harness driver say Harrah's Philadelphia long ignored dangerous track conditions before their client's crash.
The allegations come in a legal complaint filed Monday over the November crash at Harrah's racetrack in Chester, Pa.
Lawyers say that 31-year-old Anthony Coletta of Hudson City, N.J., suffered brain damage and other injuries when a horse in front of him stumbled, throwing him from his cart.
They fought the casino operator to inspect the racetrack before the upcoming season. A judge granted Coletta's attorneys access in February.
Harrah's lawyer Larry Kelly says he has not seen the complaint and has no immediate comment.
Harrah's is owned by Caesar's Entertainment Corp.
The widow of long-time radio personality and community leader E. Steven Collins has filed a lawsuit, claiming he received substandard care in the emergency room prior to his death.
Collins, 58, died on September 9 of last year from a heart attack.
Collins' wife, Lisa Duhart-Collins, filed the lawsuit against Chestnut Hill Hospital, where Collins was taken the night of September 8 after he complained of chest pains. The lawsuit claims Collins had three abnormal EKGs and that he died while he was waiting to be transferred to Presbyterian Hospital. 
According to the lawsuit, a doctor failed to provide urgent treatment for Collins, who eventually went into cardiac arrest before he died shortly after midnight.
“He should’ve been stabilized,” said Tom Kline, the attorney for the family. “He needed to have intervention to undo a blockage. Had that occurred correctly and had he been given the correct medications, which did not terribly depress his blood pressures, he would be alive today.”
NBC10 reached out to officials at Chestnut Hill for a response. We have not yet heard back from them.
Considered by his colleagues as the “unofficial mayor of Philadelphia,” Collins hosted several programs throughout his career, including the show “Philly Speaks,” which aired on Sundays on Old School 100.3 FM. Collins also served as the director of Urban Marketing and External Radio Stations for Radio One.
Collins’ accolades included work on local television, as an analyst on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews as well as work for CNN, PBS and other media entities. He also sat board for Ivy Legacy, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Multicultural Affairs Congress, the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications and Mayor Nutter's Commission on Literacy.
Collins was also involved with Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Urban League of Philadelphia, the African-American Museum and Concerned Black Men of Philadelphia.
A graduate of Temple University, Collins was set to receive the Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Award and be inducted into Temple's School of Media & Communication Hall of Fame in October of last year, a month after his death.
Thousands of mourners, including Mayor Michael Nutter, attended his memorial service last year at Sharon Baptist Church in the Wynnefield Heights section of the city.
“E was an icon in Philadelphia,” Kline said. “We hope to obtain a measure of justice for his family.”
A security guard is recovering after police say a driver crashed into the security booth at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
The unidentified driver somehow lost control of his vehicle around 7:40 p.m. on Monday and crashed into a fence and security booth at the Navy Yard on the 4500 block of South Broad Street.
The security guard, a 55-year-old man, suffered neck, back and hip injuries during the crash. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he is currently in stable condition.
Police say the driver was taken into custody and is being tested for DUI.
Stay with NBC10.com for more details on this developing story.
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Riley Ross admits he was frightened when he witnessed a man attack a SEPTA Police officer. But that didn't stop him from running into the chaos to lend a helping hand.
"I just didn't want anybody to get hurt," said the local attorney. "I got a young son and wanted to see him again for sure."
The ordeal began around 3 p.m. on a southbound SEPTA train. Investigators say an unidentified man on the train was threatening passengers.
"Passengers were alerted because there was a man on the train saying that he had a gun and he was threatening to shoot passengers," said Steven Harold, SEPTA's inspector of operations.
After the train stopped at the Fairmount Station, Ronald Jones, a 5-year veteran with the SEPTA police force, confronted the man and led him off the train and onto the platform.
That's when, officials say, the man began to attack Jones, grabbing for the officer's gun in the process.
"My thought was that either the man is going to get shot or the officer is going to get shot," Ross said. "We could all get shot."
After the suspect fell, Ross and another man rushed to help restrain him as Jones recovered. Investigators say the suspect then got up again, returned to the train and tried to grab the child of another passenger but was unable to do so. More officers then responded to the scene and the suspect was apprehended and taken into custody.
"It was that kind of mob psychology," Ross said. "I think everybody was waiting for somebody to do something. Once someone jumped in, other people came in and helped."
Harold thanked Ross and the other passenger for their bravery.
"The first two passengers that came on were outstanding," Harold said. "We thank you for it."
The suspect was taken into custody and treated for his injuries at Hahnemann Hospital. SEPTA Police tell NBC10 they don't have a name and identity for the man. They also have not yet revealed the specific charges against him.
Officer Jones was not seriously hurt during the ordeal. SEPTA Police say however that he lost his badge and cell phone during the fight and are asking anyone who finds the items to return them.
Cabs for a local taxi company were officially allowed back on the streets after turning over documents to the PPA.
On March 6, a PPA judge told officials with the Germantown Cab Company that they could no longer operate in Philadelphia because they failed to turn over proper documentation and background checks for their drivers. Prior to the decision, PPA officials say they had been in a long court fight with the company, trying to get them to comply with regulations.
“We want every member of the riding public to be able to enter a cab and feel confident that they are stepping into a safe cab,” said PPA Attorney Michael Casey.
Michael Henry, an attorney for Germantown Cab, claimed the PPA didn’t give the company a fair chance before shutting them down however.
“The PPA shut us down without a hearing,” Henry said. “Basically they just declared that we were out of service and didn’t give us an opportunity to defend ourselves.”
Henry filed an emergency injunction to fight the PPA's ruling and a hearing was set for March 13. However, PPA officials claimed the cabs were supposed to remain out of service until then.
That wasn't the case however. After NBC10 aired and published the original story, we immediately received emails from viewers who claimed the cab company was still in service.
NBC10 confirmed Germantown Cab was in service after we called a dispatcher for the company on March 8. Those cabs were also still in service last week when NBC10's Harry Hairston went out into Center City.
Hairston got rides from two cab drivers with the company. The first cab driver, who recognized Harry, even turned off the meter and insisted on not charging him for the ride.
"This ride is going to be a compliment of me," the driver said.
When asked about the ruling, the second driver told Harry the PPA didn't have any authority over the company.
NBC10 reached out to Henry a second time and asked why the cabs were still in service. According to Henry, the PPA agreed to let the 150 cabs in the company stay on the road until the March 13 hearing.
"We contacted them and told them we had a hearing," Henry said. "The enforcement department told us they would not shut us down prior to the hearing."
Officials with the PPA denied this however and say they fined any cabs that were caught operating in the city prior to the hearing $500.
On Monday, PPA officials told NBC10 that the cab company finally submitted the required documents and their taxis are allowed back on the streets as a result. However, they also say they will shut down the company immediately if they find a violation in the submitted documents.
Local leaders announced a multi-million dollar plan to create more affordable housing for Philadelphia residents.
The $100 million plan would turn vacant lots into affordable housing for people who work but can’t afford to live in expensive Philadelphia neighborhoods.
“It’s the ultimate responsibility of government to be supportive and initiate policies that support those individuals that tend to not be in upper income salaries,” said City Council President Darrell Clarke.
Clarke identified “opportunity zones” or neighborhoods with city-owned vacant lots. Under the plan, 1000 new rental units and 500 new homes would be built on those lots.
“On Market Street alone we have one or two vacant properties on a block,” said City Councilman Curtis Jones. “150 units stabilize a large area of my under-serviced community.”
According to Clarke, the plan would call for the city to float a $100 million bond to leverage additional revenue in order to build $400 million worth of new development. That bond would then be repaid through the city’s housing trust fund, which generates money every time a home is sold in the city.
“We are a city of prosperous aggressive wealth,” said Rahim Islam of Universal Companies. “Then we see neighborhoods predominately dominated by African Americans and Latinos where we see absolute poverty.”
Mayor Michael Nutter will have to approve the plan before it goes forward. A spokesperson for the Mayor told NBC10 that he looks forward to hearing the details about the proposal.
Last year, the Philadelphia Housing Authority unveiled a similar plan to create 6,000 new or existing affordable housing for the city within five years. A spokesperson for the Housing Authority told NBC10 that there are currently more than 100,000 people on the waiting list for affordable housing.
Police in several northern New Jersey towns are investigating after getting multiple reports of suspects trying to lure children into cars over the last two weeks.
Seven attempted lurings have been reported in several Bergen County towns since March 10, according to police and news reports. It's not clear if all the attempts are connected, but the same man is suspected in at least three attempted lurings in Leonia last week.
The most recent reports came Monday in nearby Hackensack and Wyckoff.
In Hackensack, a man in his 20s or 30s drove up to a student on the way to Hackensack Middle School in a black sedan and claimed he had a dog, police say. When the student ran away, the man drove off.
Later in the day in Wyckoff, police say two men in a gold car tried to lure someone near Everett and Wyckoff avenues. No description of the victim or suspects was given.
In Leonia, the same man is suspected of trying to get girls into his car on three occasions last week, police there say.
In the first two, both on Wednesday and less than half an hour apart, the suspect drove up to groups of two girls in a light blue SUV and asked for directions. Both times, he made sexually explicit comments and drove off when one of the girls told him where to go.
In the third reported luring, on Thursday, the suspect drove a gold Honda sedan up to a 13-year-old girl walking to school, rolled down his window and asked her to get in his car so she could show him where the post office was, police say. The girl told police she said “no thank you” and ran away. She told police she saw an upset-looking girl between 10 and 12 years old in the back seat.
After Thursday’s reported attempt, the superintendent of schools in Leonia sent a letter to parents saying teachers were reminding students about safety precautions while walking to and from school.
Two other lurings were reported earlier last week in Ridgefield Park and Norwood, reports the Bergen Record.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and AtlantiCare in Egg Harbor, N.J., have formed a partnership aimed at strengthening the delivery of pediatric care at the Jersey Shore.
Under the agreement,CHOP pediatric hospitals will be on-site at the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s Atlantic City campus, and CHOP neonatologists will staff the neonatal intensive-care unit at AtlantiCare’s Mainland Campus in Pomona.
CHOP clinicians also will consult with emergency teams at both campuses, when needed.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more about this story on PBJ.com.
For more breaking business news go to PBJ.com
More than two years have passed since three American hikers, held hostage in Iran, returned to the U.S. It's a harrowing experience Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Cheltenham High School alum Joshua Fattal document in the book A Sliver of Light.
Since arriving stateside in September 2011, the three friends have been adjusting to life outside of prison walls. Shourd and Bauer married in a May 2012 ceremony in California. Fattal lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his partner, Jenny Borhman and their 7-month-old son, Isaiah.
NBC10.com talked to 31-year-old Fattal, who grew up in Elkins Park, Pa., about their story, which details the trio’s entire experience from the moment they began their hiking trip in Iraqi Kurdistan to the instant the two men were reunited with their families 781 days after their capture.
You, Shourd and Bauer wrote A Sliver of Light in the present tense, weaving together one another’s narratives. Why did you decide to share your story in this way?
"We decided the best way to let people feel as close as possible to our experience would be to write in the present tense, which was the most difficult part as a writer. We wrote the scenes and then put them into chronological order. At no point do we jump back and reflect."
There are many mentions of God and spirituality throughout the book. In particular, the portions you wrote describe a struggle with Judaism during your incarceration.
"In solitary confinement, my mind was hounding me. I was trying to find a reason for my punishment. So I thought of every possible way that I was guilty of something. And one of my biggest fears was that the interrogators would know that I was Jewish with an Israeli father and they would use that to punish me extra. I felt like I needed to hide that. Then at a certain point in the desperation of my total isolation, I realized I didn’t do anything wrong and I especially didn’t do anything wrong by being born into the family I was born into."
Despite that realization, there were still moments where your background haunted you?
"Yes, the guards would feel my anxiety. They’d say to me Jew, Jewish, no problem and I’d relax for a moment. He’d point to me and say ‘Moses.’ Then he’d point down the hall where my friends presumably were and say ‘Jesus’ and he’d point to himself and say ‘Mohammad’ and then he’d close his hands and say, ‘One God.’"
Despite the anxiety, you write in the book, “I look forward to interrogations, but they come only once a week.”
"The hardest part of prison was the first month for me, I was in complete isolation. I just needed something to look forward to. It gave me hope that the process was moving forward. Interrogation gave me someone to talk to. I at least got to explain myself. This is why I was hiking; this is why I lived my life up to this point. In my cell alone, my mind would ask me these questions. Sometimes I’d sit in interrogation for four or six hours. If I didn’t have interrogation that day, those four hours would go a lot slower."
You spent the first few weeks of your imprisonment in solitary confinement and came up with many different ways to pass the time. You even write, “sweeping the floor with my hands is one of my favorite activities.” What else did you do to break up the 781 days behind bars?
"I remember there was one wafer wrapper in my pocket and that was as much as I had to entertain myself for 30 days. The days are so boring; you have to have something to do. We write about trying to make alcohol from fermenting fruit. I found a great strategy was having as many holidays as possible. I tried to remember every holiday I could. I celebrated birthdays, half-birthdays, family’s birthdays."
Speaking of birthdays, you turned 28 and 29 while you were inside an Iranian prison. What was that like?
"They gave Sarah a cake on her birthday, so I realized that my birthday could be an excuse for [the guards] to give me something. I decided to go on a campaign, but, of course, when my birthday came they didn’t give me anything. But I told Shane I still want to make the day special. I want to sit at a table. So we deconstructed the bed and rearranged its pieces so it would somewhat resemble a table. We sat to eat dinner that day."
You also write how helpful letters you received from your then-friend and now-partner, Jenny, helped keep you sane during solitary: “I’d been hoping she was thinking of me. I have been thinking of her – wishing I’d gone back to America to date her instead of visiting Shane and Sarah.” What was it like reuniting with Jenny?
"I’ve known her since I was a child. But the complication was that I wasn’t adjusted to free life for awhile. We had to move really slowly at first because I had to learn how to handle the complexities of life. Getting a driver’s license, learning how to have conversations with more than two people a day, figuring out how to make a decision from a restaurant menu. I needed to stop losing my keys every couple of days because I had forgotten how to be responsible for them."
And now you have a son together. How do you imagine 7-month-old Isaiah will find out about this period in your life?
"I feel like it will come up naturally. I can imagine him running home from a friends’ house and saying, ‘Daddy, I just saw a TV show and they put all the bad people in prison and it was great.’ And maybe I’ll sit him down and say, ‘You know daddy was in prison and daddy wasn’t a bad guy. Life isn’t always so black and white.’ Hopefully, somehow, what I went through will benefit him in some way."
Fattal is currently studying the interrelationship between law and social movements as part of a Ph.D. program in history at New York University. A Sliver of Light will be available wherever books are sold beginning March 18.
Pictured: Joshua Fattal (L), Jenny Bohrman (R) and their 7-month-old son Isaiah.
Contact Alison Burdo at 610.668.5635, alison.burdo@nbcuni.com or follow @NewsBurd on Twitter.
A car slammed into a Northeast Philadelphia doughnut shop this morning sending one person to the hospital.
The elderly driver says he thought the car was in reverse, not drive, when he hit the accelerator outside the Dunkin' Donuts at Shelly Plaza along Frankford Avenue in the Torresdale section of the city around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The crash left a person sitting inside hurt after the car broke through the glass facade of the restaurant.
The victim was rushed to aria Torresdale Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to police.
The Ford sedan wound up wedged between two orange retaining poles -- the front-end crashed through the not only the glass but also part of the brick wall. One of the window panes even wound up wrapped around the front of the car.
Gene Butala who was parked outside the Dunkin' Donuts described what happened.
"A car just pulled up next to me and just kept going right through the window," said Butala. "It went through the window and just kept trying to go."
Butala said he jumped out of his car, opened the door of the sedan and turned off the ignition.
The driver, who is in his 80s, appeared confused, according to Butala.
Police said the unidentified driver remained on the scene after the wreck. It wasn't clear if any charges would be filed.
It also wasn't clear how long it would take to clean up the scene.
Licenses and Inspections would need to check out the structural integrity of the building before allowing the restaurant to reopen.
A man used an untwisted wire hanger to swipe a rental truck right from a U-Haul location.
Surveillance cameras captured the unidentified suspect removing keys from a U-Haul drop box at 314 N 13th Street in Center City Philadelphia shortly after 2 a.m. on March 6.
In the video you see the man, wearing a distinctive backpack and hoodie, seemingly scope out if anyone is looking before he puts the hanger through the drop box window. He then maneuvers the hanger all the way down to the floor where he snags the keys.
The man carefully manages to pick the keys up and take them from the box slot. He then went over to a 2006 GMC truck and drove off, according to Philadelphia Police.
Police asked anyone who might recognize the suspect or knows about the whereabouts of the truck to contact Philadelphia Police investigators at 215-686-3047 or submit a tip online.
A news helicopter crashed near Seattle’s iconic Space Needle Tuesday morning leaving at least two dead and one hurt.
The chopper crashed into three cars along Broad Street near Fisher Plaza in the city's center shortly before 7:55 a.m. Pacific time, leaving a fiery wreck that took crews about 30 minutes to extinguish.
Seattle firefighters say at least two people died.
A 37-year-old man who was inside one of the cars was critically injured with burns over more than 50 percent of his body, according to NBC affiliate KING 5.
The chopper is operated by KOMO-TV and is used by KING 5 as part of a news-gathering partnership.
KOMO's studio -- where the chopper lands and takes off from -- is located a short distance from the crash site. The Federal Aviation Administration said that the chopper was taking off with three people on board when it tumbled to the ground about 50 meters from the Space Needle.
All that was left of the helicopter was the chassis and some of the tail, according to firefighters.
Jet fuel spilled from the crash site onto the pavement. Crews used sand to try and sop up the fuel.
The chopper is managed by Helicopters, Inc. -- a company that specializes in the design, construction and leasing of news choppers, according to KING 5.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation Tuesday morning.
None of the victims were immediately identified.
Click here for the latest on this story from NBC News.
