After a failed attempt to remove huge letters from atop a Center City high-rise this summer, crews will be giving it a try again this Sunday.
Workers will be pulling down the remaining letters from the iconic Philadelphia National Bank sign at One South Broad Street starting at 6 a.m. Sunday, project manager Barbara Nate tells NBC10.
Nine letters — three P's, N's and B's — remain on three sides of the stone building's bell tower 28 stories above the sidewalk. Three other letters were removed on Aug. 17.
All 12 letters, each 16-feet tall and weighing 3,000 lbs., were supposed to be detached from the building that day and shuttled to the ground by helicopter. But after 7 hours and lots of frustration, the letters were only able to be removed from one side of the building.
The "PNB" letters have graced the Philadelphia skyline for the past 60 years. The sign was installed to signify the headquarters for the now-defunct Philadelphia National Bank.
One South Broad was recently sold to New York-based Aion Partners, who decided to remove the signage.
Police will be shutting down several streets around the building for the removal project between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. They are:
Crews needed to obtain FAA and city approval to allow the helicopter to fly so low in the city, which is why the removal rescheduling did not happen right away.
The man accused of violently abducting a Philadelphia woman and holding her hostage for nearly three days mumbled he was not guilty in court Friday during his bail hearing.
Delvin Barnes, 37, was not granted bail and will be held in custody until his trial.
The hearing took place at the federal courthouse on Independence Mall where Barnes appeared with his court-appointed public defender.
Barnes was indicted on Thursday for the Nov. 2 kidnapping of Carlesha Freeland-Gaither.
The caught-on-video attack showed the suspect grabbing the 22-year-old nursing assistant off a Germantown street and throwing her into a car. Investigators eventually tracked down the man in Maryland, where he was arrested and the victim was found.
The suspect, whom authorities have described as a "vicious predator," was charged federally a day after his arrest. Authorities in Virginia said Barnes also faces charges for the attempted murder of a 16-year-old girl.
A public transit bus crashed off a South Jersey interstate Friday afternoon leaving at least three people hurt and snarling traffic, according to New Jersey State Police.
The bus crashed through a guard rail along I-295 southbound near mile-marker 48 in Burlington Township just after 4 p.m., tweeted state police.
At least three people on the bus suffered minor injuries, according to Burlington County dispatchers.
It appeared no other vehicles were involved, said dispatchers.
Traffic slowly got by the crash scene, said investigators.
A trooper shot and killed a suspect following a pursuit through a Delaware neighborhood late Friday afternoon.
The shooting happened around 4:15 p.m. at Harvey Road and Garfield Avenue in Claymont, Delaware, according to Delaware State Police.
The male suspect, later identified as 41-year-old William McNulty, was rushed to Christiana Hospital in critical condition, according to state police. He died at the hospital about two hours later.
No state troopers suffered any injuries, said investigators.
As SkyForce10 hovered overhead you could see a sedan crashed into a tree with at least three police vehicles surrounding it. It appeared windows on the car were shot out and debris could be seen strewed across the grass.
No word yet on what led to the pursuit.
The intersection lies in a neighborhood surrounded by Interstate 95 on one side and Interstate 495 on the other. Police closed Harvey Road from I-95 to Philadelphia Pike as they continued to investigate Friday evening.
A South Jersey man found bleeding outside a South Jersey house fire now faces arson and murder charges in the deaths of his girlfriend and her son.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office announced charges Friday against Joseph Palmer III in the deadly fire along the 200 block of Washington Avenue — not far from the White Horse Pike (U.S. Route 30) — in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey.
Earlier, police said the fire that killed two people — believed to be 38-year-old Michelle Pabst and her 7-year-old son Gavin Pabst — appeared to be intentionally set.
Flames broke out around 8 a.m. Wednesday. Emergency responders found the Pabsts dead in the home and medics transported a third victim, later identified as Palmer, to the hospital after finding him outside the home, according to investigators.
An autopsy completed Thursday revealed the woman died of multiple sharp object and blunt-force trauma injuries while her son died from multiple stab wounds.
"She was one of my best friends," said a friend of the victim. "Her son was one of my daughter's best friends. She's very sad."
Multiple fire departments, law enforcement agencies and the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office remained on the scene throughout the morning as they tried to figure out the circumstances of the blaze. Prosecutors called the fire "suspicious."
Palmer originally placed the blame on someone else, according to investigators.
"He was telling investigators that somebody broke into the house," said Egg Harbor City Police Sergeant Dylan Hutton.
After being released from the hospital, Palmer was arraigned Friday on murder and aggravated arson and sent to county jail unable to post $2 million cash bail.
Police in South Jersey charged a driver with careless driving three days after his BMW crashed into a school bus carrying a child leaving four people hurt.
Justin Thomas, 26, faces charges stemming from Tuesday's crash along the 600 block of Lawrenceville Road (U.S. Route 206) near Hutchinson Drive in Princeton Township, New Jersey.
Thomas' 2011 BMW 328i collided crossed the centerline shortly after 2:45 p.m. Tuesday and clipped the front bumper of the bus, according to Princeton Police.
Four people suffered what Princeton Police called non-life-threatening injuries.
A 16-year-old student; the child's aide, 71-year-old Geneva Smith; and the 44-year-old bus driver, Veronica McKinney were treated at University Medical Center at Plainsboro, according to police.
Thomas, of Morris Plains was also treated, according to police.
On Friday, police charged Thomas with reckless driving and failure to keep right.
A New Jersey police station was evacuated after it received a bomb threat over the phone, police say.
Bomb squads swept the Garfield Police Station in Bergen County and issued an all-clear.
Police are investigating the threat, which was called in shortly before 7 p.m. Friday, said Bergen County Police Chief Brian Higgins.
They're looking into whether it's connected to a series of bomb threats that were called in to several New Jersey schools and the Garfield police station earlier in the week.
Federal, state and local officials are also investigating whether those calls, which targeted schools and public buildings in Englewood, Fort Lee, Garfield, Leonia and Hackensack, are connected to a series of similar threats made to five Boston-area schools just an hour earlier.
A day that began with a spin on the ice for Philly Jesus ended with him in handcuffs.
“I bring the story of Jesus, the same way they bring it to the movies I bring it to the street,” Michael Grant told NBC10.com.
Grant, aka Philly Jesus, is a sort of Center City celebrity — the City of Brotherly Love’s pious answer to Times Square’s Naked Cowboy — as he walks around in the area of LOVE Park with a long beard, long hair and robe taking photos, sharing scripture and even, occasionally, baptizing people.
Grant was in his normal Jesus get-up when he took up an offer Friday to skate for free on the ice at the new Dilworth Plaza rink, a moment captured on Philly Jesus’ Instagram feed.
After the skate, Grant said he went across the street to his normal post in iconic LOVE Park that’s where he had an altercation with a Philadelphia Police officer over Grant accepting money for photos.
Grant tweeted about his early afternoon arrest after a couple of hours in police custody.
People come up to me and ask me to take pics with them and for them..I tell them i Dnt charge but tips are welcome. cop said u r solicitin
— phillyjesus (@phillyjesus) November 14, 2014
Philadelphia court records show that Grant faces summary counts of disorderly conduct and failure to disperse charges.
While he was in police custody, fans took to Twitter and Instagram to "Free Philly Jesus."
Early Friday evening, Philly Jesus was "free my dudes" and reflecting on what led to his arrest.
Grant, a recovering drug addict, spoke to NBC10.com's Allison Burdo earlier this year about how he came to become Philly Jesus after becoming sober last year.
"I considered myself completely healed and cured when I surrendered my heart to Jesus Christ," he said.
Grant claims the officer who arrested him recognized him from when Grant used drugs. Grant said the officer accused him of soliciting.
“I tell people I do not charge but tips and donations are always welcome,” said Grant.
Grant said he recited scripture while being taken to the police station.
“I’m going to fight this,” Grant said.
Philadelphia Police didn’t respond to NBC10’s request for comment on the arrest.
A Chester County college alerted students Friday night to a rape investigation on campus.
West Chester University sent out a message that a female student reported being raped by an acquaintance inside a residence hall around 1:30 a.m. Friday.
The victim reported the incident to the campus public safety department around 6 p.m. Friday.
The University didn’t name the student accused of rape.
They asked for anyone with information about the incident to contact West Chester University Department of Public Safety Police at 610-436-3311.
