A woman was forced to keep her food in a mini fridge and a container outside after purchasing a refrigerator with an ice dispenser that started leaking after several months. When the fridge caused repeated issues to her home, she reached out to Harry Hairston and NBC10 Responds. 

In a town where hip new businesses have set up shop, a developer in Atlantic City saw visions of success while thinking outside the box. An unconventional project to put up a 10-unit boutique hotel built out of repurposed shipping containers is in the works.   

A Catholic priest in the Philadelphia Archdiocese has been charged with rape and corruption of minors for alleged misconduct that occurred between 2014 and 2017, according to court records and a church statement.

The Rev. Armand Garcia, 49, of Aston, was arrested Monday for an alleged assault that happened in August 2014 while Garcia served at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in the Andorra section of Philadelphia.

Garcia most recently resided at Saint Martin of Tours Parish, which is on Roosevelt Boulevard in the city's Summerdale section.

Garcia’s arrest comes as the Vatican continues to grapple with a worldwide sexual abuse scandal and after Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s release last year of a scathing grand jury report that named hundreds of predator priests in Pennsylvania’s other dioceses.

He also was arraigned Monday on charges of rape, photograph/film/depict on computer sex act, and corruption of minors, according to online court documents. 

He posted 10 percent of $250,000 bail and was released. Garcia's attorney, Bill Brennan, previously defended two priests in unrelated criminal cases.

“Neither of those two prior priest defendants were convicted of either jury," Brennan said. "I say that not to toot my horn. I say that to remind people that innocent until proven guilty isn’t just an abstract concept.”

Brennan also told NBC10 no money from the Archdiocese will be used for his client's legal fees.

“The Archdiocese and I have not teamed up in the past, and I don’t think we’ll be teaming up now. I wish them well, but hopefully they’ll just stay out of my way," Brennan said. “Frankly, the way that they handle their operations, I don’t want their help.”

The archdiocese said in a statement Tuesday that Garcia has been on administrative leave since March 16, 2018, when Philadelphia police first notified the archdiocese of a sex assault allegation against the priest.

"The Archdiocese cooperated with law enforcement during the course of the criminal investigation that has been ongoing for the past year," the archdiocese said in a statement. "Father Garcia lived in a private residence for the duration of that period with no access to any parish or school."

The move to Saint Martin of Tours from Immaculate Heart in 2017 was made "in the course of normal personnel changes," the archdiocese said. Garcia served as a parish priest at IHM and a pastor at Saint Martin of Tours.

After the notification of a police investigation, Archbishop Charles Chaput restricted Garcia’s priestly faculties and banned him from presenting himself publicly as a priest.

The archdiocese says that parishioners at Garcia’s most recent assignments — Saint Martin of Tours Parish and Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish — were made aware of the allegations against Garcia last year. 

"These charges are serious and disturbing. The Archdiocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement regarding this matter and remains fervently committed to preventing child abuse as well as protecting the children and young people entrusted to its care," the archdiocese statement said. 

Garcia was ordained in 2005. The archdiocese said he has served at the following parishes, schools and offices: Saint Joseph, Downingtown (2005-2008); Saint Eleanor, Collegeville (2008-2009); Saint Katherine of Siena, Philadelphia (2009-2010); personal leave (2010-2011); Our Lady of the Assumption, Strafford (2011); Immaculate Heart of Mary, Philadelphia (2011-2017); Saint Martin of Tours, Philadelphia (2017-2018).

The archdiocese urged victims of sexual abuse by clergy to reach out to the Victim Assistance Office of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at 1-888-800-8780 or philavac@archphila.org. Victims can also call police.

A driver going the wrong way on Interstate 95 near the Philadelphia International Airport on Monday, March 4, was chased by police. The wrong-way driver's pickup truck eventually crashed head-on with another vehicle. Now, Philadelphia police are admitting the officers violated their pursuit policy.

[[480275613, L,200,74]] NBC10 is one of 19 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city’s push towards economic justice. Follow us at @BrokeInPhilly.

Legislation to enhance protections and rights to affordable housing for low-income Philadelphians is being proposed in City Council.

Three proposed bills would establish three new elements of affordable housing in the city: 

• a low-income tenant legal defense fund
• "fair chance" housing protections for residents returning to life after serving time in prison
• requirements for certain Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority "dispositions," which are sales or leases of city-owned properties

Council President Darrell Clarke and Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sánchez are sponsoring the bills and released the report at a press conference at City Hall.

Sánchez represents the Seventh District, which has a 41.6% poverty rate, the highest in the city, according to the newly released report.

"Philadelphia City government should not support any private development that might contribute to raised rents and home prices without getting something in return for underserved communities," Sánchez said. "I am excited to use this research to inform new legislation and policies to reduce our poverty rate."

The bills will be introduced at the next Council meeting, Thursday, March 7. 

Here is a summary of the poverty report (The full report is here):

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Three men were caught in the act packaging drugs "as if they were making cookies," during a heroin and horse tranquilizer bust inside a Bucks County apartment, investigators announced Tuesday.

Acting on a tip, Bensalem Police executed a search warrant Saturday at an apartment on the 1200 block of Neshaminy Valley Drive in Bensalem. As they entered the apartment, they found three men, later identified as Jose Nieves Velez, 31, Emanuel Rodrigues-Santiago, 31, and Hamlet Bentacourt Pimentel, 38, according to police.

"When Bensalem Police entered the apartment there were three males sitting in the apartment, packaging the heroin right in front, as if they were making cookies," Fred Harran, Bensalem's Director of Public Safety, said.

Police seized around three kilograms of heroin and fentanyl, hundreds of heroin baggies, numerous scales, grinders, packaging materials and about $40,000 in cash, according to investigators. Police also say they recovered 2400 ml of Xylazine, a controlled substance commonly used for horse tranquilizers as well as a cutting agent when mixed with fentanyl or heroin.

"If it's a chemical that can take down a horse, I don't think it's something I'd want to touch," Harran said.

In all, police say the drugs and contraband they seized is worth about $4.5 million.

All three men are charged with multiple drug violations and were remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility in lieu of $1 million bail.

Investigators say Nieves Velez entered the country illegally while Rodrigues-Santiago is a previously deported convicted felon. ICE placed detainers on both men.

Melanie Liburd, an actress on NBC's hit show "This Is Us," talked heartbreak, healing and other topics during an interview with Jacqueline London.

A Philadelphia man was convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child after stabbing her multiple times inside her Montgomery County apartment.

On Tuesday, a jury found Tristian Jones, 36, guilty of first degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime. He received two life sentences from the judge.

Jones was dating 31-year-old Eboney White while also being married to another woman who was unaware of his affair, officials said. Jones later learned that White was pregnant with his child.

On Feb. 19, 2018, Jones purchased a knife and then attacked White inside her apartment on Mather Way in the Elkins Park section of Cheltenham Township. White was 7 ½ months pregnant at the time.

White’s 12-year-old and 7-year-old children were inside the apartment during the attack. The 12-year-old girl testified that she woke up around 2:45 a.m. to the sounds of her mother screaming as Jones stabbed her. The girl then locked herself inside the bathroom and called 911.

When police arrived at the apartment, they found White’s body inside her bedroom. Neither White nor her unborn child survived. 

Workers at a Philadelphia Taco Bell were fired after a man accused them of beating him and his girlfriend in an unprovoked attack that was captured on video.

Joe Boback told NBC10 he was visiting the Taco Bell restaurant on 11th and Chestnut streets back on Feb. 24 around 10 p.m. Boback said he and other customers were waiting for about 45 minutes for their food, causing some of them to complain. Boback’s roommate as well as her boyfriend Bryan Reese, 38, then arrived at the Taco Bell to pick him up.

Reese told NBC10 he was waiting with Boback inside the restaurant when six to seven Taco Bell employees suddenly jumped over the counter and attacked him.

Boback began to record on his cellphone as Reese ran outside. The Taco Bell workers caught up to him and continued attacking him in the middle of the street, Reese said. The video shows one worker holding Reese in a headlock while another worker throws punches.

Boback told NBC10 Reese’s girlfriend tried to stop them. That’s when a worker held her down while another beat her.

“It was such a blur because it was so traumatic to see my two friends get beat up for no reason,” Boback said. “It was complete chaos.”

Reese and his girlfriend were both injured during the incident. Reese released the video on social media Tuesday after claiming both Taco Bell and police were slow in addressing it.

“It was unprovoked,” Reese said. “There’s no reason my girlfriend should’ve been on the ground getting beat up as well.”

A spokesperson for Taco Bell released a statement to NBC10 on the incident.

“We’re shocked and disappointed to see this situation; we and our franchisees do not tolerate this behavior,” the spokesperson wrote. “The franchisee who owns and operates this location is retraining its staff, and all team members involved have been terminated.”

Reese told NBC10 Taco Bell offered him a $20 gift card and he’s happy about the firings. He plans on pressing charges against the workers.

“Justice means the people get arrested and there’s repercussions for actions,” he said.

Police are also investigating a complaint from a Grubhub driver who accused a worker at the same Taco Bell of using a homophobic slur against him.

Temperatures this Wednesday are far below average for this time of year. Commuters are used to this bitter cold that has been hanging around all winter and have learned to prepare by layering up or opting to wait in their cars for the trains come.

A water main break at the Brooklawn Circle in Camden County has two lanes of traffic blocked between Kings Highway and Community Road. Another water main break in Philadelphia's Logan neighborhood has flooded the intersection of Rockland and 13th streets, but cars have been able to drive through it.

Emergency vehicles drove onto a field in South Jersey after a pickup truck wound up overturned in the open field dozens of feet off the road.

The person was dead when emergency responders got to the field off Kings Highway and U.S. Route 322 in Woolwich Township Wednesday morning, Gloucester County dispatchers said.

It was unclear what caused the pickup to wind up crashed in the field. A tarp was placed over the wreckage.

The crash scene is near Kingsway High School. NBC10 has left a message with the superintendent's office to ask if there is any connection to the school.

Expect traffic trouble in the area.

Several people on a Norwegian Escape cruise ship headed to Florida were injured Sunday by "a sudden, extreme gust of wind," the company said.

According to Norwegian Cruise, the ship "encountered unexpected weather in the form of a sudden, extreme gust of wind, estimated at 100 knots, which resulted in the ship heeling to the port side."

"Several injuries were reported and those guests and crew received immediate attention or are being treated by the ship’s medical staff. There was no damage to the ship; she remains fully operational and continues her scheduled itinerary," the company said in a statement.

Photos and video provided to NBC 4 show the impact of the wind gusts, which left items on the cruise ship thrown about, including plates, liquor bottles and glasses, as well as toppled over what appeared to be tables.

Passengers could be heard screaming in panic, while some held on to what appeared to be a bar and others slid across the floor trying to maintain their footing.

Storm Team 4 says the same storm that dumped snow on the tri-state and generated destructive tornadoes across the South was responsible for the 100 knot wind gust.

Radar data from Sunday night shows strong thunderstorms developed off the New Jersey coast and moved northeast toward the ship’s last reported location.

Storm Team 4 says the thunderstorms produced powerful straight-line winds that raced across the ocean at 100+ mph.

Several people along the New Jersey coast also reported hearing thunder on Sunday night.

The Philadelphia Health Department has launched a new campagin to fight the opioid epidemic. The ads show the real faces of people in recovery. Ronald McAdams, who is featured in the campagin, says he hopes he can help others get help by sharing his story.

Christians are kicking off Lent this Ash Wednesday by recieving ashes at Mass all day. In Philadelphia, Saint Peter's Episcopal Church will provide ashes on the go at Jefferson Station for those who cannot make it to Mass.

SEPTA transit police officers walked off the job Wednesday afternoon after their union and the Philadelphia-area transit agency failed to come to a bargaining agreement.

The Fraternal Order of Transit Police — Lodge 109, which represents 178 officers sworn to protect riders and property on trains, buses and trolleys and at area stations, announced their intention to strike on Wednesday morning.

The union said its members have been working without a contract for more than a year. Both sides were negotiating through Wednesday afternoon before the action was announced.

Andrew Busch, SEPTA's chief spokesman, confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the agency was notified that officers planned the action immediately.

SEPTA management has a contingency plan in place. Busch said 49 police supervisors will work 12 hour shifts patroling systemwide. Police in Philadelphia and other towns that SEPTA serves will also step up patrols, he added.

The transit agency does not expect passenger service to be affected.

SEPTA transit officers are allowed to strike at any time without notice, according to a person familiar with the union's collective bargaining agreement.

Omari Bervine, president of FOP Lodge 109, claims officers are underpaid and that the wage issue is leading to turnover in the ranks.

“Over the past couple of years we have lost nearly 50 officers, which is approximately 20 percent of our workforce to better paying jobs,” Bervine said.

The union claims that public safety is being put at risk.

“This has left a dangerous void in our deployment, making the transit system significantly less safe, with less officers available to respond to calls for service,” Bervine said. “Meanwhile, the disparity in pay between our officers and their immediate supervisors and other management level employees has ballooned to over $30,000, which includes wage increases and bonuses as our pay has remained stagnant for years.”

The police union said it is willing to negotiate a new contract with SEPTA.

This story is developing and will be updated.

An uprising of shootings in a decades-old war between two of Philadelphia's most violent gangs led to eight arrests Wednesday by a joint task force of state and city law enforcement.

Those arrested, all in their early 20s, were charged with murder related to two shootings in December 2017, according to officials with the state Attorney General's Gun Violence Task Force.

The suspects are allegedly members of Grays Ferry neighborhood gangs associated with their locations: 27th Street and 31th Street. A feud dating back many years between the gangs has long made the South Philadelphia neighborhood one of the most dangerous in the city.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro, in announcing the arrests, said that the gangs were responsible for 43 shooting incidents in a 13-month period, from January 2017 through February 2018. A total of 35 shooting victims, including three people killed, were hurt in the violence.

"Members of these violent groups in Grays Ferry identify themselves based on their vicinity, based on their turf," Shapiro said. "The retaliatory violence between 27th Street and 31st Street is fueled by petty slights, posts on social media, and generational grudges."

One of the victim's of the ongoing violence was Nasir Livingston, 17, who was shot to death inside a Chinese takeout store at 27th and Dickinson streets. He lived a block away.

The South Philadelphia High School student's murder on Dec. 19, 2017, is one of two shootings that led to the arrests.

His shooting, along with an alleged retaliatory shooting eight days later, on Dec. 27, 2017, are what law enforcement used to charge the suspects.

Two men, Khalid Harrison, 22, and Mujihad Deen, 20, are charged with Livingston's killing. Five others, Markesha Hines-Washington, 22, Nasir Evans, 20, Montez Burke, 22, Alexis Hodge, 21, and Galvison Morris, 21, are charged in connection with the retaliatory shooting. An eighth person, Nyseem Smith, 21, was also arrested on unrelated charges. Smith is alleged to be a member of the 31st Street gang.

If you received a call saying you won a vacation or some cash, it may be likely too good to be true. NBC10's Harry Hairston has some tips so you can avoid falling victim to a sweepstakes scam.

For those struggling with Parkinson's Disease, daily tasks can be a struggle. Now, a team at the University of Delaware is working to make life for those battling the disease easier with a new device.

Glen Mills School is facing backlash after reports of abuse and violence against students. Now local advocates and organizers are challenging the school. The school released a statement saying they are working with state and local officials.