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Car Crashes Into Gas Main, Starts Fire

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The crash caused four townhomes in Newark, Del. to catch fire. One person was injured.

Robber Kicks Woman With Baby: NYPD

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Police are searching for a robber who was captured on surveillance video jump-kicking a mother in the back as she carried her infant, causing both her and the baby boy to fall to the ground as the suspect ran off with the woman's cellphone. 

The 24-year-old woman, who wanted to remain anonymous out of fear for her safety, told NBC 4 New York in Spanish that she was walking home from the laundromat in West Farms last Friday afternoon when she was attacked.

Video released by police shows the suspect, identified as 18-year-old Alonzo Brown, walking in front of 1155 East Tremont Ave. when he stares after the victim, who walks past him as she talks on her cellphone. 

He turns around and begins following the woman, then breaks out into a run and jumps and kicks the woman in the back, video shows.

The woman, who was carrying bags of laundry and had her three-month-old baby son, Jordan, strapped to her chest, crumples to the ground, and Brown snatches her cellphone and flees.

The woman and the baby were taken to Jacobi Hospital, where they were treated for their injuries and released.

"I'm afraid I'm going to encounter him again," she said through a translator.

The baby's father said, "Thank God my baby boy is good now."

Anyone with information on Brown is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. 

-- Brynn Gingras contributed to this report.

Man Killed Crossing Busy Street on Rainy Night

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An elderly man was hit and killed by a car while running across a busy road in the city's Mayfair section on a dark and rainy Monday evening.

The 69-year-old victim was running across the 2200 block of Cottman Ave. when he was killed by a passing car around 6:30 p.m., police said.

The driver of the car stopped and is cooperating with police.

An investigation into the fatal crash is underway, although no charges are expected to be filed.

The name of the victim has not been released pending notification of his family.

6 NJ Families Left Homeless by Fire

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Six families were left homeless by a fire that destroyed a two-story building in Elizabeth, New Jersey, American Red Cross officials said Sunday.

The fire started at about 9 p.m. Saturday at an Elizabeth Avenue building that housed a business and apartments.

Residents, all of whom lived on the second floor, safely evacuated the building, the Red Cross said. The agency said it was providing temporary shelter, food, clothing and other assistance to 13 people who were rendered homeless.

An eyewitness told news reporters that an explosion preceded the fire. The blaze spread to neighboring buildings before firefighters brought it under control. 

Vacant House Fire Spreads; Woman Hurt

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The fire broke out in a vacant North Philadelphia home early Tuesday morning and then spread to neighboring properties, injuring one woman, authorities said.

The blaze erupted in the empty house on the 2900 block of North 24th Street, near West Indiana Street, around 1:30 a.m and quickly moved to another adjacent, occupied home, officials said.

Crews rushed a woman, who lives in the neighboring residence, to a local hospital, where she is being treated for smoke inhalation and heart problems, authorities said.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

Shooting Victim Runs, Collapses in Philly

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A shooting victim ran half a block before collapsing on a Philadelphia street late Monday night.

An assailant shot the 23-year-old man in the stomach at close range on the 2900 block of Huntingdon Avenue in the city's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood around 11 p.m., officials said.

The victim ran from the scene, crumpling to the ground at the intersection of 30th Street and Huntingdon Avenue, authorities said.

Police rushed the man to Temple University Hospital, where he is in critical condition.

Investigators recovered two large caliber bullet casings at the scene, according to reports.

The motive for the shooting is unclear.

Caught on Cam: Man Confronts Shopper Dressed as Vet

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A confrontation caught on camera between a Pennsylvania military veteran and a man dressed as an Army Ranger has gone viral with more than 1.5 million views since it was posted Sunday.

Twenty-six-year-old veteran Ryan Berk, a purple heart recipient from Bucks County, was at the Oxford Mall shopping for Black Friday deals when a man dressed as an Army Ranger caught his eye. A vet himself, Berk said he was curious about the soldier and moved in for a closer look. He quickly grew suspicious after noticing small inconsistencies in the man's uniform, said Berk.

After watching the uniformed man shop, Berk approached him, cell phone camera rolling, and introduced his son.

"Hey buddy..." said the soldier.

Berk quickly began firing off questions a veteran would likely know how to answer, including a question about the placement of a flag on his uniform.

"Why's your flag so low?" asked Berk.

"Ya got me on that one, bud," the man replied.

At one point, Berk accuses the man of violating the Stolen Valor Act, a law which makes it a crime to fraudulently claim you've received any military decorations with the intention of gaining money, property or any other tangible benefit.

"His responses to my questions were just a dead giveaway," said the Bucks Co. vet.

"Let me tell you something," said the uniformed man. "If I was a phony, I wouldn't be wearing this uniform."

After another exchange of words, the soldier walks away and Berk stops the recording.

Berk posted the video to YouTube Sunday hoping to shame the man, he said. The video quickly went viral catching the attention of more than 1.3 million people -- including a local congressman who is now calling for a federal investigation.

The U.S. military confirmed that they are aware of the video and the man, whose name is being withheld at this time, has no affiliation with the Army.

"To have this guy then pretend that he's done the same thing on the caliber that my friends did, it just gets you infuriated," said Berk. 

Uncle Clings to Life After Attack by Nephew: Police

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A teenager is on the run after he punched his uncle late Monday night, knocking him out cold, in the Northeast Philadelphia home they shared, police said.

Authorities are searching for the 15-year-old boy, who allegedly struck his 58-year-old uncle around 9:30 p.m. during an argument in their home on the 500 block of Sentner Street in the Lawncrest section of the city.

"We don't know if it was just a punch," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, "Or if some of these objects that were found right on the scene, right in the blood -- a pair of pliers, a screwdriver -- if they were used."

Police said they found the man on the living room floor, unconscious and bleeding from his head.

The victim was rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he is in extremely critical condition, according to officials.

The teen, who is known to investigators, fled the scene after the altercation.

Police said they are checking areas the man's nephew is known to frequent.

"It is only going to be a matter of time before he is taken into custody," Small said.

Stay with NBC10 for more on this developing story.


Officers Find Girl in Passed Out Heroin User's Pickup: Police

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Police in South Jersey found a young child in the back seat of a pickup truck driven by a man believed to be passed out on heroin over the weekend.

Camden County Police officers responded to the corner of 7th and Chestnut streets just after noon Saturday because a pickup truck was stopped at the intersection and the driver appeared to be unconscious.

When the officers approached the truck they found Domenick Romeo III, 40, of Pitman, New Jersey, passed out — apparently high on heroin. They also found a 3-year-old girl unharmed in the back seat, investigators said late Monday.

The officers cared for the child at the scene while they waited for Child Protection and Permanency to respond to the scene and contact the girl’s family.

The officers searched the vehicle and found empty syringe packaging in the truck. They placed Romeo under arrest for endangering the welfare of a child, driving under the influence, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

Romeo was transported to Cooper University Hospital for treatment before being sent to county jail unable to post $20,000 bail.



Photo Credit: NECN

Car Crashes Into NJ Florist

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A car slammed into a South Jersey flower shop Tuesday morning leaving two people hurt.

A green Ford Taurus crashed into the front of Stein Your Florist Co. on Sunset Road in Burlington, New Jersey shortly before noon, according to Burlington County dispatchers.

A customer was at the counter when the sedan smashed into the glass facade. That person wasn't hurt, said employees at the florist.

The driver, however, was rushed to Cooper University hospital with unknown injuries. Another person — it wasn‘t clear if they were in the store or in the car — was taken to Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County with minor injuries, said dispatchers.

The force of the wreck sent merchandise, glass and metal crashing down.

It wasn’t clear when the florist — which also has a location in Northeast Philadelphia — would be able to reopen.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation Tuesday afternoon.



Photo Credit: Johanna Mullin

Drug Deaths Significantly Higher in Pa.: New CDC Study

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Drug overdose deaths in Pennsylvania remain at significantly higher rates than the national average, a new study released Tuesday by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found.

In 2012, 2,365 people overdosed and died in the Keystone State, according to CDC data. Breaking it down by population, that's 18.5 citizens per 100,000.

Nationally, the overdose rate in 2012 rested at 13.1 per 100,000 people.

Opioids like heroin, methadone and oxycodone, have been the major antagonist for drug overdoses in Pennsylvania and across the country.

Heroin-related deaths in the U.S. more than tripled over the past decade growing to 5,925 in 2012 from 1,960 in 1999. Overall, drug overdoses more than doubled jumping to 41,502 in 2012 from 16,849 back in 1999, according to the report.

The report also stated that of the 2012 drug-related deaths, 16,007 involved opioid analgesics — the formal name for synthetic opioids like oxycodone.

Pennsylvania was among 14 states that had age-adjusted drug-poisoning death rates above the national average, according to the report. The states with the highest rates per 100,000 population were West Virginia (32.0), Kentucky (25.0), New Mexico (24.7), Utah (23.1), and Nevada (21.0).

High overdose deaths are not new for Pennsylvania. The rate in 2011 was 18 people per 100,000 and hasn't been equal with the current national average since 2006.

Click here to see the full report



Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
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The Garden State's Among Least Charitable

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New Jerseyans just don’t spread the wealth. According to a recent report by WalletHub, the Delaware Valley is far from benevolent.

New Jersey ranked 47 overall, with the 47th lowest percent of donated income and lowest growth in charitable giving between 2006 and 2012.

Pennsylvania and Delaware fell far from the top, scoring 35 and 37 respectively.

When it comes to generosity, the square states take the cake. Big Midwestern states Utah, South Dakota, Idao and Kansas took the top spots for their high volunteer rates and percent of population who claim to donate time.

The good news? The United States tied with Myanmar for first place of most charitable countries — just one more gold star to put on the US's report card.

51 Years Later: Grandmother's False Arrest Record Expunged

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After five decades the government finally recognizes what Barbara Ann Finn already knew: she is not a criminal.

“I’m just ecstatic about it,” the 74-year-old great-grandmother told NBC10 on Tuesday.

Finn has been fighting for a year to have a shoplifting arrest removed from her record. The ghost record was linked to an incident in 1963. The woman was shopping with friends in a West Philly store, when another woman she was with was nabbed for stealing. The friend got in trouble, but Finn, having done nothing wrong didn’t. Or so she thought.

She moved to Maryland in 1985, married, was a foster parent and spent 40 years working accounts receivable in the Maryland Department of Treasury. Then last year, as a retiree living along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, she was denied a part-time position in an school cafeteria after a routine check with the FBI’s criminal record database listed her supposed past arrest.

“I’ve gone all these years without all of this and then for just a little job this happened,” Finn said adding that she was hoping to work for some supplemental income. “I was shocked.”

For her past jobs and time as a foster mother, Finn said she’d undergone various background checks without issue.

Embarrassed and confused by the discovery, Finn called state police in Maryland and Pennsylvania, the FBI and prosecutors in Philadelphia. No one could help. She was eventually told to seek assistance from the Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE), which runs the Criminal Record Expungement Project. The program holds neighborhood workshops to help identify those who could have arrests or charges removed from their criminal record, which also removes barriers for employment among other issues.

“The impact that she felt and the embarrassment in her community that she felt after being denied a job because of this was profound. We had to really persuade her to share her story,” said Michael Lee, PLSE’s Executive Director and the attorney who represented Finn.

Lee found the Pennsylvania State Police and FBI’s criminal record database had listed Finn as an alias on the arrest record of the other woman she was with that day in 1963.

“We still don’t know where the breakdown occurred, but it was odd because it was under her married name. She didn’t get married until the 1980s,” Lee said.
“The record also had a different date of birth, a different height.”

When the attorney tried to find the original arrest documentation from 1963, neither Philadelphia Police nor the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office could locate the record. Lee then filed a petition to have the arrest expunged — a necessary move to correct the FBI database.

“I’ve never seen a case where someone who has no contact with the court system is so connected with a person who is,” Lee said. The Philadelphia Court Clerk had to create a case file so that the proceedings could be entered into the record since there was no case history.

Finn’s prayers were finally answered on Monday when Common Pleas Judge Joan A. Brown granted the request to expunge.

“I just appreciate the help that [PLSE] gave me. I’m just so happy that they got it expunged,” the woman said.

The Criminal Record Expungement Project has held 45 mobile legal clinics in neighborhoods around Philadelphia since 2010 and to date the organization’s members have filed more than 4,000 expungement petitions, according to Lee. The attorney said removing old or irrelevant information from someone’s history can have a profound impact in helping them find a decent job and move past any stigma from an issue in their past.

As for Finn, the court order requires state police to amend their record and that will in turn be sent to the FBI. But that’s only half the battle.

Lee said he’s not sure how quickly that information will be disseminated among third-party background checking companies which consumers and employers pay to get quick criminal history checks.

“Over the past year, I didn’t even apply for any other jobs because I was worried about it,” Finn said. “I just hope it doesn’t happen to anybody else.”


Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Man Sorry for Kicking Mom With Baby

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An 18-year-old accused of jump-kicking in a mother in the back as she carried a baby is in police custody Tuesday, police said.

Police tracked down Alonzo Brown less than a day after authorities released video showing a suspect kicking Odila Orozco as she carried laundry bags on East Tremont Avenue with her 2-month-old son strapped to her chest on Friday.

Both the mother and the baby fell to the ground after the kick, and the suspect allegedly ran off with the woman's cell phone.

Brown was charged with robbery, attempted robbery, several counts of assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child, among other charges. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday. 

As he was being driven away in a police cruiser Brown claimed he didn't know Orozco was holding a baby. 

"I'm sorry to the lady and the baby," he said. 

Orozco and her son Jordan were taken to Jacobi Hospital, where they were treated for their injuries and released.

The 24-year-old victim told NBC 4 New York she was walking home from the laundromat in West Farms last Friday afternoon when she was attacked. She said Tuesday that she didn't accept his apology, and that she doesn't believe he didn't see her baby because they made eye contact as they walked by each other. 

She told NBC 4 New York through a translator: "He deserves to pay for what he did, he has probably hurt some other people in the past. He didn't think of [the] baby so he deserves what he's going to get." 

"He didn't think like a man, he acted like a coward," she said. "He has to pay for what he did." 

Brown, who has 11 prior arrests, was ordered jailed on $25,000 bond, and is scheduled to return to court Dec. 8. He has other court dates for two other outstanding cases. 

-- Pei-Sze Cheng contributed to this report. 

"Liquid Cocaine" Seized at JFK Airport: Customs Agents

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Customs agents seized 18 pounds of what they call “liquid cocaine” at John F. Kennedy International Airport last month, federal officials say.

Agents sifting through a bag belonging to a man who had just landed in the United States from Guyana on Nov. 17 found four large rum bottles that appeared to have thicker than usual contents.

The officers took the man and his luggage to a search room where they opened the bottles. All four had unusual chemical odors and later tested positive for cocaine, authorities say.

The passenger, Wilton Sinclair, was then arrested on narcotics smuggling charges. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.

The customs office said the liquefied cocaine could have been sold for about $310,000.


Caught on Camera: Car Fire on I-76

Is Wearing a Military Uniform Illegal if You Didn't Serve?

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A local man is accused of pretending to be a military veteran but did he actually commit a crime? NBC10's Lu Ann Cahn takes a closer look at the Stolen Valor Act and talks to former Navy SEAL, Don Shipley who helps expose fakers.

Man Missing After Barge Capsizes

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The United States Coast Guard and firefighters are scouring a river in Wilmington, Del. for a man who fell off a barge when it capsized Tuesday night.

The Derrick barge flipped over, dumping three men into the Christina River just before 7:30. Two of the men were rescued immediately. The third man, the maintenance dredge's operator, couldn't be found. 

The workers were moving anchors in the Wilmington Harbor Channel -- a routine job performed on a regular basis to reposition the barge -- when it capsized, according to Charlie Meyers of the Army Corps of Engineers.

"We don't know why that happened..." said Meyers.

The men worked for Norfolk Dredging, a company contracted out by the Army Corps.

"We are all very upset," said Meyers. "We work with these folks everyday and they are like family."

A staging area was set up at the Port of Wilmington where light is being provided. Wilmington Tug as well as all available vessels in the area are helping with the search.

"We are hoping for a miracle, but we beliebe he may be tangled up in the equipment underwater," Meyers said.

Free Ride on the Pa. Turnpike?

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The NBC10 Investigators found out that while the rest of us pay tolls along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, more than 2,000 employees are getting a free ride. NBC10's Harry Hairston has more.

Photo Credit: NBCPhiladelphia.com

Atlantic City Seeks Emergency Grant

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New Jersey's Congressional Delegation is asking the Federal Government to authorize an emergency grant to help Atlantic City deal with its crumbling economy.
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