A sport utility vehicle slammed into the back of a Pennsylvania state trooper's cruiser on I-76 Sunday morning.
The trooper's car was mangled, but the trooper was not seriously injured. The accident happened on I-76 in the eastbound lanes near Montgomery Drive. The accident happened about 2:30 a.m.
A Mercedes SUV hit the cruiser which then hit a Mercury Marquis.
The driver was arrested for driving under the influence.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
A pregnant woman was killed after a drive-by shooting in the Frankford section of Philadelphia Sunday morning.
Philadelphia Police say Megan Doto, 26, who neighbors say was eight-months pregnant, was sitting with a man outside a home on 1520 Adams Avenue shortly before 11 a.m. Suddenly, investigators say, a gunman driving the wrong way up Griscom Street opened fire.
"One of the bullets traveled down the street and struck her on the right side of the face," said Philadelphia Police Captain Steve Murianka.
Doto was rushed to Temple Hospital and underwent surgery for an emergency c-section. She was later pronounced dead. Doto's boyfriend and the child's father told NBC10 the newborn baby boy died less than an hour after his delivery. Officials at Temple Hospital told NBC10 the child is in critical condition however.
Police say no weapon has been recovered, but two dozen shell casings were found a block away from the shooting. They are also trying to determine whether Doto was the intended target or an innocent bystander.
The shooter may have fled the scene in a late model white Ford Crown Victoria or light colored silver Impala with tinted windows, according to investigators.
Loved ones say Doto had two other children and was originally from Bensalem. They also say she was planning on naming her newborn baby "Carmine."
"It seemed like she was a good person," said Doto's neighbor David Dukes Jr. "She seemed like she stuck to herself. All she did is sit outside with her friends."
A water main break in Kennett Square has caused some customers to be without water.
The borough experienced a water main break on the 200 block of East South Street late Saturday night.
The public works department and its vendors are working to control the leak and fix the problem. Kennett Square Mayor Matt Fetick says crews were able to locate the source of the leak.
"Digging has been slowed due to the location of the leak which is in close proximity to three other water mains, a sewer main and gas line," Fetick wrote.
Fetick says crews are in the process of getting the leak clamped.
"Once that happens the tank will begin to fill again and Public Works will bleed the lines," Fetick wrote.
Although there are no signs of contamination, residents are urged to boil their water as a precaution. The recommendation will be lifted after two days of negative contamination tests.
"We should start to experience a return of pressure and normal water service by early evening," Fetick wrote. "Water samples will be obtained tonight and again tomorrow. As soon as those results come back twice as 'clean' we can remove the boil water recommendation."
Residents who would like to receive instant text message notifications from the borough may sign up here.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
Two teens are fighting for their lives after a hit-and-run crash in Wilmington, Delaware.
The unidentified teens were riding their dirt bikes at the intersection of A and Townsend Streets around 4 p.m. Sunday when they collided with a black or dark blue Tahoe/Yukon type SUV.
Both teens were ejected from their dirt bikes and suffered serious injuries. The SUV fled the scene of the accident. Investigators say the hit-and-run vehicle likely has front damage to the right side.
The teens were taken to the AI DuPont Hospital for Children where they are currently in critical condition.
If you have any information on the crash, please call the Wilmington Police Department at 302-654-5151 or call 911.
A power outage occurred at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey Sunday afternoon, briefly stranding passengers on rides. The outage happened after a transformer blew around 2 p.m.
"Paramedics started running through the park," said Al Moore, a visitor at the park. "Then ambulances and fire trucks showed up in the parking lot."
The park staff told visitors that the electricity went out, however the lights were still on in restaurants and shops, according to Moore.
"The staff also was telling people to stop taking pictures and video on their cellphones," Moore said.
Moore also told NBC10 a section of the park was roped off near Skull Mountain.
No one was injured, according to police. Officials with the Jersey Central Power and Light Company say they're in the process of isolating the outage and it did not impact the entire park.
Kaitlyn Turi, the Public Relations Supervisor for Six Flags, told NBC10 some visitors were briefly stuck on rides during the outage but were safely removed.
"All of our guests were safely unloaded from the affected rides within 20 minutes," Turi wrote. "Jersey Central Power and Light is here assessing the source of the outage. Power has been restored to portions of the park and, following a safety check, some rides have begun to resume normal operations."
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Two men were killed and another was injured when a car struck a tree in northern New Jersey.
But it's not yet clear what caused the single-car crash in Scotch Plains, which occurred around 9:45 p.m. Saturday on Route 22 east.
Authorities say the car's driver and the front-seat passenger were both pronounced dead at the scene.
The injured person, who was sitting in the backseat, was flown to a hospital, but further details on his condition have not been disclosed.
The names of the three men have not been disclosed.
Authorities say it does not appear that any other vehicles were involved in the accident.
A video showing a woman being attacked at a SEPTA station has sparked a police investigation.
The video, which was posted on YouTube Friday, shows a woman dressed in white punching and kicking a woman dressed in black at the 30th Street subway station.
The person who uploaded the video said the attack happened “a few days ago” but did not give a specific date or time. According to the uploader, prior to the recorded attack, the woman in white was chasing another man through several cars on the Market-Frankford Line while threatening to stab him with “what looked like a homemade shiv.”
The uploader says the train conductor called police after the train stopped at 30th Street. The man who allegedly was being chased then sat down on a bench next to a woman dressed in black with a cast on her left arm. The woman in white then approached the man and the woman in black which is when the uploader began to record.
The video shows the woman in white screaming at the woman in black. The woman in white then repeatedly punches the woman in black in the face. The woman in white then throws the victim to the floor, grabs her hair and repeatedly kicks her in the face.
The man recording the attack yells for someone to stop the assault. The man who was sitting next to the victim then yells, “Don't stop s*** because this b**** is going to jail! I’ve got a restraining order on this b****!”
After the attack, the woman in white walks up a stairwell and leaves the scene.
“She can’t run, she’s drunk, what’s she gonna run to?” the man asks. “I’ve got a restraining order on her. She ain’t supposed to be the f*** around me.”
A spokesman for SEPTA told NBC10 police are aware of the incident and are currently investigating. He did not reveal however when the incident took place. The spokesman also said that everyone involved in the incident knows each other and no one was seriously hurt. The spokesman did not confirm whether anyone has been charged but says the investigation is ongoing.
Warning: This video contains graphic language and violence
Two inmates who escaped a youth detention center in South Jersey are still at large, according to officials.
Police say 20-year-old Jermaine Jackson and 18-year-old Hakeem Walls, both of Bridgeton, NJ, escaped the Cumberland County Juvenile Detention Center in Hopewell Township Saturday night.
The two men as well as a juvenile inmate overpowered a guard around 6:15 p.m. Saturday, according to officials. While detention center officials managed to capture the juvenile a short time later, Jackson and Walls were able to escape, according to police.
Officials say Jackson and Walls were being held on weapons charges. They were detained at the juvenile detention center because they were minors when they were originally sentenced.
Both men are still at large and considered dangerous, according to officials. Residents in both Hopewell Township and Bridgeton were alerted by an automated reverse 911 phone system.
The men were last seen wearing dark blue detention center overalls.
If you have any information on their whereabouts, please call 911.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
A Brooklyn mother says she and her 3-year-old son are still traumatized after she found the boy covered in bite marks and blood in his bed from what she believes was a rat attack.
"There was blood all over his pillow," said Marilyn Abreu, who lives in a Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment with her son.
The boy had open wounds across his face, neck and feet. Abreu believes he was bitten by a rat or several rats while he slept on Aug. 21.
"It wasn't no scratches, it was the actual teeth," she said.
What's worse, Abreu said, is her son is a special-needs child who rarely speaks and likely could not cry out for help.
"I"m right here in the next room, and I didn't hear nothing. That's what hurts me most," she said.
The boy, Nathaniel, was taken to two different hospitals, where doctors who examined him also believed he was bitten by rats, documents show.
The apartment sits above a closed subway entrance that has been infested with rats for years, according to Abreu, and she said they're now chewing through her walls.
She's complained about the vermin, and the building management company has brought in an exterminator, documents show, but the rats only gnaw their way through again, Abreu said.
Other neighbors in the building are fed up with the condition of the building, too.
"My cat killed one rat in front of my door," said one man. "It's ridiculous, I call Wavecrest all the time, but no one calls back."
Wavecrest Management did bring in an exterminator after Nathaniel was bitten, documents show, and pest remediation treatments can be seen in the kitchen.
Records from the 311 city hotline also show a complaint on Aug. 21 was resolved eight days later, but Abreu said she still hears rats in the walls and her son is now afraid to go to sleep.
"I'm scared," she said. "And my son, he doesn't want to sleep in his bed."
Abreu wants to maintain her rent-stabilized rate with the current building management company, and is on a mission to be relocated to another building.
Calls to Wavecrest were not returned Friday.
Follow Checkey Beckford on Twitter @Checkey4NY
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
Burger lovers in Philly rejoiced when a New-York-based craft burger joint recently opened its first location in the City of Brotherly Love.
Bareburger -- known for its exotic selection of meats including bison, elk, duck bacon, wild boar and the new-at-the-Philly-location goat -- recently opened its doors at 1009 Walnut Street.
The burger chain promises organic burgers as well as salads, fried chicken and salads.
“The ‘bare’ being a nod to the choice to use organic ingredients free of hormones, pesticides and other unsavory elements,” said the company.
The company said that the Philly location has been well-received so far.
“We're so excited to be a part of the Philadelphia community,” said CEO Euripides Pelekanos. “We could not be happier to be in the city that knows, demands and respects good food. We strive to have a fun and welcoming atmosphere, and look forward to welcoming in customers in Philadelphia for a good time and great burgers."
Since opening its first location in June 2009, Bareburger has expanded to 20 restaurants in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and Ohio.
But the Philly store opened right around a time of controversy on the Philly burger scene after Eagles star running back LeSean McCoy left a 20 cent tip at Northern Liberties burger joint PYT. Bareburger put out a challenge to Shady last week.
Hey @CutonDime25 heard you like burgers & good service in Philly? Your meal will be .20 cents if we aren't the best burger you've ever had!
— Bareburger (@Bareburger) September 12, 2014
No word yet on if McCoy is a Bareburger guy.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
So here's a little nugget of information that might surprise you. Playboy Magazine just released its list of 2014's Top Party Schools and the University of Pennsylvania was on it!
Not only did the Ivy League school make the list for the first time ever, it took the top spot!
Yes, that's right, Playboy Magazine named the University of Pennsylvania the country's No. 1 party school.
"UPenn puts other Ivies to shame with its union of brains, brewskies and bros," says the magazine.
The rankings took a variety of factors into consideration -- things like access to nightlife, musical events and creativity when party planning.
"Boasting a notorious underground frat scene that school officials have deemed a nuisance, these renegades pony up thousands of dollars' worth of liquor for their parties."
Coming in at No. 2 was the University of Wisconsin, followed by West Virginia and the University of Arizona. University of Iowa rounded out the top five.
The issue, which also includes honors for "Coolest Indie Music Scene" and "Sexiest Small School" will hit newstands and online Friday.
Two people were hospitalized following a late-morning car crash in Gloucester County, New Jersey.
The two-vehicle crash happened around 10:40 a.m. on Sicklerville Road near Greenbriar Drive, according to officials.
Two people were injured in the accident. One of the injured was flown by medivac to a nearby hospital, police said. The other was transported by ambulance
No word yet on what caused the crash.
Sicklerville Road between Blackhorse Pike and Holiday City Boulevard was closed for about an hour and a half.
This story is developing. Check back for details.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
A man trying to steal from the Valley Forge National Historical Park wound up dead -- apparently electrocuted.
A man called Montgomery County 911 around 4 a.m. to report that his friend appeared to be electrocuted outside the Kennedy Supplee Mansion on S Trooper Road inside the park.
When Upper Merion Township Police arrived, officers found the victim unresponsive, partially inside a 4,100-volt electrical box on the lawn of the mansion.
First repsonders waited for PECO to turn off the electrical box before attending to the 41-year-old man. Medics pronounced the Norristown man dead at the scene.
Investigators said that it appeared the man went into the box in an attempt to steal copper wiring.
The man’s friend, who called 911, remained on the scene and cooperated with the investigation.
Police asked that anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the area on Friday night or early Saturday to call the Upper Merion Township Police Detective Division at 610-265-3232.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
The Trump Plaza in Atlantic City will shutter its doors early Tuesday morning, the latest casino to fail as this once high-flying resort city faces fierce competition from gambling elsewhere.
When the doors close at 5:59 a.m., about 8,000 jobs will have been lost this year, a quarter of the casino workforce, according to figures filed by the city's casinos. Hundreds of former employees have been filing for unemployment benefits, health care, heat assistance and food stamps. More may be lining up for help soon. Trump Entertainment Resorts is in bankruptcy and is threatening to close the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in November if it does not get concessions on labor costs.
With Atlantic City’s gambling revenue plummeting from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.86 billion last year, according to the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the suffering shore resort is scrambling to reinvent itself. Only eight of its 12 casinos will remain and competition in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Delaware and elsewhere continues to grow. Officials are searching for ways the city can appeal anew to visitors and stop hemorrhaging jobs and revenue.
“It’s really a repositioning of the city itself,” said Mark Giannantonio, the president of Resorts Casino Hotel, which turned itself around after adding a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville entertainment complex. “It’s more right-sized for the market in gaming and it’s an opportunity for us to continue to go after this non-gaming element, which in turn helps gaming.”
Officials are hoping a mix of convention space, entertainment venues, shops, a college campus, plus the casinos will transform the city from a gambling hub into a resort with a variety of attractions. Atlantic City’s non-gambling revenue is growing but at half the rate its gambling revenue is dropping.
LURING CONVENTIONS, CORPORATE MEETINGS
One place to look as a model: Sin City. The Las Vegas Strip managed to curb its reliance on casinos. A little more than one third of its revenue comes from gambling, compared to 72 percent in Atlantic City. But experts caution the change will not be easy.
For example, there is already a glut of convention space across the country, said Heywood Sanders, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the author of “Convention Center Follies.”
Demand in 2013 was only slightly above where it was in 2000, he said. Meanwhile, the amount of exhibit hall space has increased by 37 percent. Major convention cities across the country have seen their business remain flat or fall. At the biggest convention center in the country, McCormick Place in Chicago, business dropped from 1.55 million attendees in 2003 to 868,000 last year.
“What we see in major events around the country is that fewer people are going,” Sanders said. “And that’s partly because employers are less willing to send lots of people out of town to a convention and trade show for an extended period.”
The president of the Atlantic City Alliance, Elizabeth Cartmell, said that the city would compete not only for conventions but also for smaller meetings of 50 to 500 people, where the glut of space is not as severe. Only 2 percent of smaller meetings originating in the Northeast comes to Atlantic City compared to 15 percent that goes to Las Vegas, she said.
MIAMI AS A MODEL
The alliance, funded with a $30 million a year assessment on the casinos, is promoting the city as a year-round seaside resort through beachside concerts, wine tastings, fishing tournaments and pro volleyball competitions. Lady Gaga and Lady Antebellum performed this summer, a series of long-distance triathlons added Atlantic City as one of its locations and the Miss America contest has returned from Las Vegas.
An 86,000-square foot Bass Pro Shop is under construction and is expected to bring almost 300 full- and part-time jobs.
The alliance is looking at Miami as a model, Cartmell said. Atlantic City offers an exciting nightlife but also the chance to relax on the beach and visit a spa, she said.
“We’re an interesting mix of a little bit of urban grit and variety, but at the same time we’re beachfront,” she said. “We call it the thrill and the chill.”
Giannantonio, the Resorts Casino Hotel president, has said that five years ago his property would have been the first casino to close. That changed with a new owner, Morris Bailey, a partnership with the Mohican Sun casinos and the new Margaritaville restaurant and LandShark Bar & Grill, Atlantic City’s first beach restaurant.
“You’re sitting right on the beach, feet from the ocean, thinking you could be anywhere in the country,” he said.
To bring people back into the city, Mayor Donald Guardian has proposed giving away land and tax breaks to new homeowners who build within two years and commit to staying for 10. The five years of tax abatements would begin at 100 percent and decrease 20 percent each year after.
Even during the boon years, much of the riches from gambling did not find their way past the glittering lights of the resorts. Twenty-five percent of the city’s population of 39,500 lives below the poverty, according to Census figures. The figure is even higher for those under 18: 37 percent.
The city ranks second in New Jersey for violent crimes trailing only Camden, FBI data from 2012 shows. Family income is about $30,000. The unemployment rate stands at 13 percent.
A NEED FOR NEW HOMEOWNERS
Michael Busler, a professor of finance at Stockton College, said the mayor’s plan was not enough. He said the city would have to offer a bigger incentive and he suggested 10 years of tax breaks as Philadelphia has done.
The value of Atlantic City’s real estate has shrunk from $20 billion when the casinos were thriving to about $8 billion, Busler said. At the same time, property taxes have gone up 22 percent last year and 29 percent this year. The city’s $260 million budget has to be cut to between $175 million and $180 million, he said.
Atlantic City was first developed as an oceanside resort in the 19th century. When gambling was legalized in 1976, the casinos turned away from the beachfront. Their design was meant to keep people inside – and gambling.
“Now we can’t do that anymore,” Busler said. “Now we’re going to emphasize we have a beautiful beach.”
Atlantic City has to find ways to rebuild that will help the city itself grow, said Bryant Simon, a professor of history at Temple University and the author of “Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America.”
Even while the casinos thrived, the city withered and for years lacked even a supermarket.
“Let’s not do that again,” he said. “Let’s have fresh produce. Let’s have year-round jobs.”
The city could try high-speed rail service to Philadelphia, so residents could work there, he said. It could open a satellite campus of the nearby Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and have a core of students studying casinos and urban redevelopment. Or it could add to the city’s medical complex. The city needs to make sure it is creating decent paying jobs, not just low wage, tourism jobs, he said.
“We shouldn’t be stunned that a city has to reinvent itself,” he said. “Cities are always places of creative destruction and renewal and resorts probably in particular because they cater to people’s desires and their desires change.”
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
