Danielle Ruttman laces up her neon pink sneakers, gearing up for a short training loop on the Chester County YMCA’s trail.
Jogging the nearly ½ mile path alone, her mind wanders to moments earlier when she drove into the parking lot — the place her friend and running buddy was shot to death by her estranged boyfriend last year.
“Every time I told [Jacinda] I can’t run a 9-mile run or I can’t run 10 miles or I can’t do a half, she would always tell me oh yes you can,” said 39-year-old Ruttman. “If I can do it you can do it. You just have to get out there and do it.”
Before Jacinda Miller’s untimely death, she and Ruttman planned to complete the Blue Cross Broad Street Run together.
“I’m going to run for her instead,” said Ruttman, who is taking on the 10-miler for the first time Sunday.
For three years, the pair taught body combat together at the Y — combining karate, mixed martial arts and kickboxing into a 45-minute class.
“She was a spitfire,” she said.
Ruttman hopes others remember the mother of two for her love and passion for fitness and running instead of the circumstances of Jacinda's untimely death,
Just as Jacinda motivated Ruttman to go solo Sunday, the slain woman’s drive and determination inspired more than two dozen other women to form a running group called “Stay With the Fight.”
Many of the women are new to the sport, and say they’re running for Jacinda. And their twice weekly training sessions are preparing them for a new Chester County race — established specifically to keep Jacinda’s memory alive.
“They’re doing it for her and it’s healthy for them,” said Ruttman. “That’s exactly what she would have wanted.”
The ChesCo Half Marathon and 5K takes place May 17 in West Caln Township, where Jacinda ran often with friends like Ruttman or director of the ChesCo Half, Jess Rigo.
Rigo, a veteran of the Blue Cross Broad Street Run, took on the 10-miler in 2010 with Jacinda.
The 2010 race was a hot one. Rigo recalls Jacinda dashing through spouts of water from the hydrants that were set up since she was not a fan of the heat. Jacinda's determination sticks out to Rigo because despite developing a "huge" blister on her foot caused by her wet shoes, Jacinda kept going.
“At the finish line, her shoe was bloody and she had to visit the medical tent,” Rigo said. “(She) still finished at well under 9 minutes per mile.”
Rigo hoped about 300 runners would turn out for The ChesCo Half. So far, twice that number have signed up. Rigo and others who've helped with the race are thrilled that many people will honor a woman remembered by friends as "driven, determined and inspiring."
A driver opened fire on an older driver in an apparent road rage incident along a busy Bucks County road Friday afternoon.
The incident began as a man wearing glasses and a dark blue T-shirt began driving his black Nissan Maxima aggressively – making multiple U-turns – along the 800 block of York Road in Warminster, Pennsylvania around 4 p.m.
The Maxima, which had a woman in the passenger seat, then pulled into the center lane near Tennyson Drive and the driver fired a shot toward a man with salt and pepper hair’s white Ford F-150 that was parked on Tennyson, said Warminster Township Police.
Luckily, no one was hurt, said police.
The township library, a couple shopping centers, a dance school and Archbishop Wood High School are all close to where the incident took place.
Warminster Police asked that anyone who knows about the incident or might have seen something to call investigators at (215) 343-0100.
Police in Pennslyvannia shot a dog after they say the animal mauled a 16-year-old boy Friday night.
Philadelphia police arrived to an alley behind the 200 block of Higbee Street, near Newtown Avenue, in the city’s Lawncrest section after receiving a 911 report of a person screaming around 7:30 p.m., said police.
Officers from the 2nd District found a pit bull mauling the boy's face and arms. The officers used a stun gun twice on the dog but the attack continued. One of the officers then opened fire, grazing the dog one time, said investigators.
The incident left the teen in critical condition. Medics rushed him to Einstein Medical Center where his condition was upgraded to stable, said police.
After the shooting police contained the dog but didn’t reveal the animal’s condition.
No officers were hurt.
"All I heard was somebody screaming and so me and my mom, we ran to the window to see what was happening," said witness Omar.
The 11-year-old captured video of the dog continuing to fight even after being corralled by officers.
No word yet on who owns the dog.
It’s not like stealing candy from a baby but it is stealing ice cream from Mister Softee.
Surveillance images captured a man swiping ice cream and money from ice cream trucks parked at a Juniata Park lot in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Philadelphia Police said the man went into several trucks parked at the E Lycoming Street lot taking tasty treats and money while damaging the vehicles.
The man wore a dark-colored coat with a bright stripe across it during the heist where he tried to open doors before breaking into some trucks and even a van.
Police asked anyone who recognizes the ice cream crook to contact East Detective Division Det. Somogyi at 215-686-3243/44.
The Philadelphia Police Department admitted that a protest the snaked through Center City Philadelphia for seven hours Thursday night posed a test for police, but one of the city’s top officers says officers were up for challenge.
"It was just impressive," said Philadelphia Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross who walked along with protesters.
The "Philly Is Baltimore"” protest remained mostly peaceful but there were tense moments including when protesters surrounded a police car near Rittenhouse Square, tried to enter the Four Seasons hotel and had a showdown with officers blocking the entrance to the Vine Street Expressway (I-676).
The tense showdown on Vine Street left Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan with a bloody lip – struck by a hurled bottle.
"I can't say enough about the phenomenal job the men and women of the Philadelphia Police Department did -- you were out there, you witnessed it -- the professionalism, the restraint," said Sullivan.
Saying the police response was restrained would be an "understatement," said Ross.
Many of the officer keeping the peace were on double shifts and stayed calm despite some personal insults.
"People think you become a police officer, you suddenly become a robot. You're still a human being and some of the names that they were shouting out -- look, we're not thin skinned, we're professionals -- but you can still be affected by things like that," said Ross.
Police have a blueprint they work off of during demonstrations but in a fluid situation they often have to react to spontaneous actions.
"Is it a pretty sight all the time? No. But at the end of the day, we're out there protecting people who had the right to demonstrate," said Ross.
Protesters returned to the streets Friday night but the demonstration was far smaller and lasted less time.
Two people were killed after the car they were driving overturned and caught fire due to the impact of a crash in the city's Cobbs Creek section overnight.
A Chrysler Towne & Country was driving north on 62nd Street around 2:40 Saturday morning when it ran a red light and crashed into a Toyota Rav4 traveling west on Walnut Street, police said. The impact of the collision was so powerful, it caused the Chrysler to overturn, land on parked cars and catch fire, according to authorities.
Two of the people inside the Chrysler, one of which was a 35-year-old man, were pronounced dead. The driver of the Toyota was taken to Penn Presbyterian for a broken arm.
An investigation into the deadly crash is underway.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
A military Humvee and a civilian vehicle collided along the New Jersey Turnpike late Friday night sending six people, including four Army personnel, to a Mercer County hospital.
The wreck closed the inner southbound lanes near mile-marker 57 (between Exits 7A and 7) on the turnpike in Hamilton Township, Mercer County around 11:15 p.m. Friday.
Police say the Humvee was part of a 12-vehicle convoy traveling from Fort Drum in New York to Fort Maguire-Dix Lakehurst in Burlington County. They were traveling south on the Turnpike when the crash happened.
One of the occupants of the Humvee was flown to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton with serious injuries, according to state police. The others were transported to the Medical Center by ambulance. No word on the extent of their injuries.
The military vehicle wound up on the grassy shoulder after the crash and a badly damaged Nissan remained on the roadway.
An investigation into the crash is underway.
