Days after a deadly airplane crashed not far from a suburban Philadelphia airport, authorities identified the victims.
Col. Richard Poch of West Chester, and Joseph Deal of Drexel Hill died in Sunday afternoon's Piper PA28 crash Saunders Lane and Andrews Drive -- not far from Brandywine Airport in West Goshen, Chester County, West Goshen Police said Wednesday.
Witnesses on the ground suggested the single-engine aircraft may have lost power -- the engine sputtering -- and then stalled before crashing into the woods and bursting into flames.
"Shortly after taking off the plane started to sputter and then basically took a nosedive and came down in the woods," said Bob Fleming, of Goshen Fire Company.
It had taken off minutes earlier from Brandywine Airport -- roughly two miles away.
"We couldn't see anything, just heard a big bang," said Frank Kraus, a neighbor.
Kraus added he was thankful the tragedy was not any worse, considering the proximity of several homes and a large senior living housing complex to the crash site.
"Thank God for the pilot," he said. "But then the pilot and his passenger didn't make it which is sad. Sad to hear that people didn't make it."
Deal, a 64-year-old certified pilot, attended Cardinal O'Hara High School and Drexel University, said his family. He left behind five siblings and a fiance.
"Joe was a kind soul and a wonderful man," said a family statement. "He was someone who everyone loved. His passion for adventure was only out-weighed by his love of family and friends, and his dedication to helping others."
Poch, who was 67, left behind a wife, two children, five grandchildren and three siblings. The U.S. Air Force veteran will be laid to rest Wednesday.
An official cause of the wreck remained under investigation.
"Wawa 1 is not just any Wawa, it is a part of my family" is how a woman's impassioned open letter to the Philadelphia-area convenience store chain begins. She's begging the company to keep its historical roots intact by not closing its first location.
And the chain, known for its coffee and "Classic" hoagies, said the letter has hit a nerve.
"Some of you may think that it is weird to include a local grocery store as an important part of your family, but the truth is ... it's more than just a local grocery store," Houston, Texas’ Jacqui Vivanco Hertlein said in the plea posted her plea on Wawa’s Facebook page.
Jacqui wants the 50-year-old Folsom, Pennsylvania Wawa location, known as "Wawa 1," to stay put.
"Wawa 1 has been there for my family in the happiest of times and the saddest of times. My family members pass many Wawas each day to and from work, but the fact of the matter is ... we only stop at one. The original. Wawa 1," Jacqui wrote.
With so many of the old stores going away in favor of larger super locations that feature gas pumps, the Wawa 1 location at MacDade Boulevard and Swarthmore Avenue, which opened on April 16, 1964 is on the chopping block. The company plans to close the store early next year and open a state-of-art location a half-mile away. The new spot will carry the old store number.
"With the same Wawa associates and customer connections traveling to this new store," spokeswoman Lori Bruce said, "for us this will still be store No. 1."
But it won’t be the same for people like Jacqui who grew up going to the older deli-style Wawa dairy and food market with her "Gramn" and "Pop" before the company expanded to more than 600 locations with stores as far away as Florida.
"It has been our family's Wawa for over 45 years, and the news of it being knocked down and moved is tearing my sweet Pop's heart."
Jacqui said she lost her Gramn to cancer just days before Christmas. "Leading up to her last days, we were in the hospital all together. Sitting around thinking about fun family times. Sipping our coffees and hot cocoas from our Wawa 1."
She wanted to honor her Grandmother’s history by writing a letter — something Gramn loved — in a "last ditch effort to keep Wawa 1 alive, along with the new super Wawa."
"It is a piece of American history, Delco history, and the Vivanco-Clark-Baker-Hertlein family history."
Bruce said Jacqui’s letter struck a nerve.
"This letter touched all of us here at Wawa as the Folsom store will always hold a special place in our hearts," said the Wawa spokeswoman. "We will be reaching out to the family to connect with them and keep them informed as our plans take shape."
Bruce said the exact timeline for Wawa 1 remains fluid.
If the plan goes through as announced and Wawa razes its original home in 2016, one less person will checking out the new location.
"I know the new 'super' Wawa will be fantastic as all others are. Just know that you will have one less customer ... my Pop," she wrote. "He is refusing to step foot into the new Wawa or any other for that matter because they are not HIS Wawa. The other Wawas will never be what the ORIGINAL is and was."
A Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, man choked his estranged wife and used a chainsaw to kill her before ending his own life with the machine, the county coroner ruled Wednesday.
Nicole Peppelman, 43, was murdered in the basement of the family's home along the 1100 block of Country Lane in Lower Moreland just before 1 p.m. Tuesday, officials said.
Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Walter Hofman said the mother of three suffered gaping cutting wounds to her abdomen from a chainsaw. She also was stabbed in the neck and choked, an autopsy revealed.
Her husband, 48-year-old Christopher Peppelman, then took the chainsaw to his right thigh and abdomen, according to the coroner's report. His death was ruled a suicide.
The couple's 14-year-old son discovered the bloody scene, officials said. The chainsaw was laying next to them. Their other two children were not home.
Friends told NBC10 that the couple had been separated and police said they had been to the home for domestic issues in the past.
Police and prosecutors continue to investigate the case.
Several homes were evacuated in Magnolia, New Jersey Wednesday afternoon due to a gas leak.
A contractor was working shortly before 3 p.m. at the intersection of North Walnut Street and Brook Avenue when a 2-inch gas main was struck and broken by a backhoe.
Four surrounding homes and ten people in all were evacuated and officials with South Jersey Gas shut off the gas around 4 p.m.
Crews were able to finish repairs around 6 p.m. and residents returned to their homes.
No one was injured during the incident.
Coast Guard officials are investigating a ship that ran aground in the Delaware River Wednesday near the Burlington Bristol Bridge in Burlington City.
The Liberian-flagged 600-foot bulk carrier, Agia Irini, was traveling southbound when it lost propulsion and ran aground around 2 p.m. The 65-foot Coast Guard Cutter Cleat responded to the scene and crew members investigated the ship.
“The ship was refloated and is en route to safe anchorage for further Coast Guard investigation,” an official said.
No injuries or pollution were reported after the incident.
The Cumberland County Prosecutor’s office revealed new details Wednesday on a Vineland man who died while in police custody. But several questions still remain.
Officials say the ordeal began at 10:53 a.m. Tuesday when two Vineland Police officers responded to a call for service for a disorderly person on the 100 block of Grape Street in Vineland. When they arrived they found 32-year-old Phillip White.
“Shortly thereafter, officers called for medical assistance in response to White appearing to be in respiratory distress,” a spokesperson for the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office said. “During the incident White was handcuffed and restrained.”
White was placed in an emergency vehicle and taken to the hospital, according to officials. Officials say an officer was with him at the time. At some point, White became unresponsive and medical personnel instituted CPR, according to investigators. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. What remains in dispute are the events that occurred immediately before White’s death.
“Events that transpired between the time of the officer’s arrival and White’s transport to the hospital are under investigation by the Cumberland County Prosecutors Office,” the spokesperson said.
Witnesses told NBC10 responding officers were extremely physical with White after he was already restrained and unconscious on the street.
"They punched him, stomped him, kicked him and then they let the dog out of the car," said Ricardo Garcia. "The dog bit him on his face and around his body. There's no call for that. Once a man is handcuffed and unconscious, you should have stuck him in the patrol car and take him to the police station. Instead they decided to beat him right here."
Another witness, Luis Martinez, also insisted White wasn’t doing anything wrong and that the officers used excessive force.
“The other cop let the dog out and they just kept punching him and the dog kept biting him at the same time,” Martinez said. “He was on the floor. Like, he was knocked out.”
A dog is heard barking on a police dispatch recording of the incident.
“118 West Grape,” the dispatcher says in the recording. “Subject…hyperventilating. Officers out.”
An officer is also heard on the recording.
“Slow all units down,” the officer says. “Subject under…tried disarming me…tried to grab my gun.”
Law enforcement sources also disputed witness accounts that the officers punched White after he was handcuffed. The sources told NBC10 White engaged in a violent struggle with one of the officers after they called an ambulance for him. They also said at times White remained combative and they insist he never lost consciousness while he was apprehended.
Vineland Police Chief Timothy Codispoti offered his condolences to White’s family while urging the public to wait until all the facts surfaced before making their judgments.
"Our sincere thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased and with the Officers involved," he said. "I ask that everyone allow time for our justice system to now investigate this matter to its truthful conclusion. The Vineland Police Department is cooperating with the prosecutor’s office and I urge anyone with information regarding this incident to contact the prosecutor’s office with your information.”
White’s aunt, Valerie White, told NBC10 she is desperate for answers.
"Why, what he was doing, I don't know," she said. "I'm trying to get answers and closure now. He lived a street life but he was a human being. Bottom line."
Sources told NBC10 White had a violent run-in with police last year during an arrest for shoplifting. According to the sources, an officer suffered a serious shoulder injury after White assaulted him.
An autopsy on White is pending. Sources have also indicated there may be video recordings of the events leading up to White’s death.
Anyone with information on any video recordings of the incident should call Sergeant Scott Collins (856-466-5127) or SAC E. Ronald Cuff (609-381-4890) of the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office.
Firefighters are speaking out for the first time after police say they were held hostage by a co-worker in the basement of a Montgomery County firehouse Tuesday.
Paul Jordan, 25, was taken into custody after a standoff situation at the La Mott Fire Company, No. 1 on Penrose Avenue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, officials said. The ordeal began around 10:40 a.m. when Jordan, who investigators say was armed with a 9mm handgun, fired a shot into the wall of the building, according to police.
"He wasn't himself," said Mark Logan, president of the La Mott Fire Company. "He didn't look like himself. He didn't act like himself."
Logan says Jordan was a volunteer firefighter at the company and was angry because he had just been fired, telling his co-workers that he had no reason to live.
"He got a little upset with one of us and I was the one who terminated him the night before," Logan said. "He pulled his gun out."
Logan says he was sitting right along a wall when a bullet struck it. After the shot, some people ran from the building but four others, including Logan, remained.
"He said, 'Next time I won't miss,'" Logan said. "If he wanted to he could've killed us all."
Another firefighter, a lieutenant, told NBC10 he was in the backroom of the basement when Jordan entered the building.
"As I turned around that's when the gun was pointed towards my face," the lieutenant said. "He was threatening all of us not to run. When he moved the gun from my face to point it at someone else I took advantage."
The lieutenant says he jumped up a crawl space and kicked open a door that led to the garage bays of the fire department.
"I had to take that one chance and say I either take a bullet to the head or make it out and save the rest of the guys," he said.
Hostage negotiators got in contact with Jordan by phone then in person after police cleared the ground floor of the building, said investigators.
"We heard SWAT upstairs," Logan said. "I'm moving around so we knew it was coming to an end in some kind of way."
After about an hour, officials say Jordan decided to surrender.
"I grabbed a gun from him and even then our guys that were remaining hugged him," Logan said. "They hugged him while I went upstairs to surrender the gun to SWAT."
Logan says the men walked out with Jordan to prevent him from getting hurt. Officers in SWAT gear detained Jordan on the ground and took him away from the scene.
Officials say Jordan surrendered without a fight. A short time later, police could be seen loading him into a police van. No one was hurt during the incident.
Officials have not yet elaborated on the reason why Jordan was fired but say he was in an ongoing dispute with the company which led to his dismissal. Jordan also worked for the Salvation Army Emergency Response Team and is also the property manager for the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
"He's a respectable person," said Kyeisha Harris, Jordan's neighbor. "You never thought people could do something like that. It don't make no sense. Like, would he just snap? I don't know."
Jordan was eventually taken to Norristown State Hospital for a psychiatric observation. Charges against him are pending.
The La Mott Fire Company is currently out of service but firefighters say they want to get back to work by Thursday morning.
Police identified a teenager who investigators say was caught on video knocking a man unconscious at a SEPTA station following an argument on a train.
SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel announced officials used facial recognition software and two tipsters to positively identify the suspect. The teen is expected to turn himself in Thursday after police requested a warrant for his arrest, officials said.
The ordeal began Monday afternoon as a train moved towards the 15th Street SEPTA station in Center City. Surveillance video shows a 60-year-old man and a teenager arguing for 20 minutes, police said.
“We have a grown adult engaging in an argument with kids who were not a problem before he got on the train,” Nestel said. “So there are a lot of questions that have to be answered here.”
The video also shows several teen girls trying to calm the man and teen down as the argument continues. One girl is spotted in the video recording the confrontation on her cellphone.
The train arrived at the 15th Street Station around 3:15 p.m. Surveillance video then shows the teen punching the man in the face on the platform, knocking him out cold. The teen and witnesses then leave the scene.
The man was taken to the hospital and treated for concussion-like symptoms.
