A young child was rushed to the hospital after falling out a window in Philadelphia Thursday, police said.
The six-year-old boy fell out a second-story window of a home in the 100 block of West Huntingdon Street in West Kensington.
The child was taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children for a possible fractured hip and arm, but his exact condition was not immediately known.
The incident is under investigation.
The owners of popular New Jersey restaurant chain Manco & Manco Pizza pleaded guilty Thursday to tax evasion, lying to IRS agents and structuring cash payments to avoid reporting requirements.
The announcement came from U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman on July 2, as Charles and Mary Bangle of Somers Point pleaded guilty in Camden federal court.
According to court documents, Charles handled day-to-day operations of the restaurant while Mary dealt with cash and payroll.
Charles Bangle admitted to underreporting his income on his 2010 U.S. individual income tax return. He avoided $91,577 in taxes according to the indictment.
Mary Bangle admitted that she was interviewed by IRS special agents in 2012 about her bank account. She lied and stated that she only kept enough cash to handle payroll and a few bills, when she was actualy keeping more for personal use. She also lied about cash deposits into her bank account.
Both are facing charges that carry sentences of up to five years in prison.
Attorneys for the couple said both had accepted responsibility for their actions. Vincent Sarubbi, an attorney representing Charles Bangle, said in an email that his client will dispute some of the government's factual contentions about the alleged conspiracy at the October sentencing hearing.
Mary Bangle's attorney, Rocco Cipparone, said in an email that federal sentencing guidelines recommend that she receive a sentence of probation.
Sentencing for both defendants is currently scheduled for October 8 of this year.
An orange and white cat survived a 28-mile journey in the engine of a pickup truck a Mars Chocolate North America employee was driving across state lines to his job Thursday, authorities say.
Animal control authorities were called to the plant in Hackettstown after the cat was spotted in the engine following the trek from East Stroudsburg, officials said.
With the help of the town's public works department and Mars employees, the cat was freed from the fan blades. It ran off, but was caught by police after a brief chase on foot.
The animal was turned over, unharmed, to an animal control officer.
For the last 15 years, William Friedrich’s family has made a lot of memories living in their South Jersey home.
"It’s not so much me but it’s my kids. I mean, this is the only home they’ve ever known,” Friedrich said.
The Friedrich family fell on hard times last year and weren’t able to pay their mortgage. In a desperate attempt to save their Berlin home, he contacted a mortgage modification company after getting a flyer in the mail.
“We thought, you know, it was God sent this guy calling us. We got that paper, you know,” he said.
But the Federal Trade Commission says the company was a fraud. The Friedrichs lost thousands of dollars and are now being evicted. They have to leave by July 15.
"They're going to take all of this all away from all of us,” Karen Friedrich said sobbing.
The Friedrichs aren’t alone. The feds say 500 people across the country fell prey to this scheme. In the Philadelphia area, we spoke with nearly a dozen.
Every family has a similar story. They turned to Hope Services, also called HAMP Services, to modify their mortgages and lower their interest rates. Now, they're fighting to keep their homes.
“They told me that they were a government program. That they would make my home affordable,” said Margot Garcia of Pennsauken.
“I thought thank God somebody is helping me save my house,” said Sewell resident Deborah Krug.
Adding trust was the use of President Barack Obama’s name and professional looking information. Some thought it was a program started by the government, but in fact the name was slightly different.
The real government program is The Home Affordable Modification Program or HAMP. It uses a phone number ending in the letters “H-O-P-E.”
“They repeatedly reference government programs specifically programs related to Obama. They use Obama's name quite a bit,” said Federal Trade Commission attorney Jonathan Cohen.
Cohen said the homeowners had to make three payments to the phony mortgage modifiers.
“Hundreds of customers made these trial mortgage payments. Unfortunately, not a single one reached any of their lenders,” he said.
Instead, Cohen says, those behind this scheme stole around $2.5 million in payments.
According to court documents, the money was allegedly spent on things such as trips to Las Vegas, country club dues and sports memorabilia.
"This is devastating for these individuals that are individuals who have already experienced some form of financial hardship,” Cohen said.
The FTC went undercover and busted the group that they say took the money.
Investigators asked Hope Services for a loan modification on a vacant lot, made the initial payment and then followed the money. The FTC recorded on video one of the suspect’s girlfriends cashing their check.
"Unfortunately these scams are very common," Cohen said.
For the Friedrichs and others, there’s little time to worry about what Hope Services did. Now they need a roof over their heads and a new place to call home.
“I’m not going to lie to you. It’s not going to be easy. We’re going to have a lot of hard times. There might be nights in motels. There might be nights in the car,” William Friedrich said.
“This is leaving family, family, friends. It’s like I don’t even know. It’s destroying, it’s destroying me inside,” Karen Friedrich said.
The FTC has filed a civil suit against five California men connected to Hope and HAMP services. NBC10 reached out to them. Only one of their attorneys responded saying his client did not solicit homeowners and was not aware HOPE and HAMP services were out of compliance with mortgage modification regulations.
Police said a Camden County, New Jersey volunteer fire captain thought he was meeting a woman and her underage daughter for sex Wednesday, but in reality he was greeted by undercover detectives.
Jesse Kopala, of Stratford, was arrested in Mount Laurel after visiting a predetermined meeting location, police said.
The 39-year-old captain with the Stratford Fire Department had been communicating with an undercover investigator with Burlington County's High-Tech Crimes Unit. According to prosecutors, Kopala told the detective, who was posing as a mom, that he wanted to have sex with a young girl and have the mother participate.
Kopala was charged with Criminal Attempt Sexual Assault and Criminal Attempt Endangering the Welfare of Children. He is being held in the county jail on $75,000 bail.
The case is being referred to a grand jury.
It's not immediately clear whether Kopala has retained legal counsel.
Detectives in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania are hoping someone can identify two men they'd like to interview in the theft of a pizza delivery driver's car, cash and smartphone after photos of them were uploaded to the victim's Google Drive.
The driver was making a delivery for Best Quality Pizza in Lansdowne early Monday to the Park Lane East apartments along Beverly Boulevard and he returned to find his car gone, police said. Along with it, $500 cash and his white Motorola smartphone.
Police recovered the car a few hours later, but without the cash and phone. The phone's GPS tracking was also switched off.
Still active, however, was the automatic uploading of photos taken with the phone's camera.
The victim logged into the account Tuesday to find pictures of the young men, police said. One shirtless and tattooed with the Philadelphia skyline and LOVE statue, both holding a sawed-off shotgun.
"I was shocked," said the man who asked to keep his identity hidden."It would be nice if I got my phone back, but I think the most important thing is that they're off the streets."
The firearm in photos have detectives more concerned. They're hoping someone recognizes the men and notifies investigators.
"It's a nasty, nasty weapon," Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. "They basically set themselves up for, hopefully, their demise and getting that gun off these street."
Anyone with information is asked to call Upper Darby Police at 610.734.7693.
Homicide detectives are questioning a woman and two others after raiding a West Oak Lane home Thursday as part of the investigation into the throat slashing murder of an 85-year-old woman, sources tell NBC10.
Police entered a home along the 6600 block of Bouvier Street Thursday afternoon and took a laptop into evidence, according to sources. A witness told NBC10 a woman lives there. A person answered the door at the home, but did not comment.
Investigators confirmed they were speaking to three people in connection with the brutal murder of Regina Brunner, but would not elaborate.
Brunner was found by her son in the first floor bedroom of her Roumfort Road rancher in East Mt. Airy Tuesday morning. She had been severely beaten and had her throat slashed with a knife. Her Toyota Corolla was stolen before being recovered the next day in North Philadelphia. Police also recovered a knife in a church playground near the car. It had been wiped-down.
Police said the woman's ATM card was used at least twice Sunday by more than one person, sources said. The motive appears to be robbery.
Philadelphia Police Homicide Capt. James Clark tells NBC10 investigators are "making significant progress" in the case.
Philadelphia officials plan to construct an 8-foot tall fence to enclose a more than 4 mile stretch of Center City for Pope Francis' visit in September, multiple sources with knowledge of security plans tell NBC10.
The perimeter fence will start to be erected on Monday, September 21 and cover a 4-and-a-half mile swath of downtown. The area will then be swept by security personnel and go through rolling security checks through the weekend, sources said.
On Friday, September 25, the day before the pope arrives, sources said a no vehicle zone will be established on the outside of the fence stretching up to four blocks away.
More than 1.5 million people are expected to come to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis and take part in a Sunday mass along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It will be his first visit to the United States since becoming the Roman Catholic church's leader. The pope will make eight public appearances while in the city over a two-day span September 26 and 27.
It's not clear if roads will remain open inside the fence before Friday. City officials said they were not ready to release road closure details at a briefing last month about mass transit operations during the pontiff's visit.
Mayor Michael Nutter did say visitors and residents should "be prepared to walk for miles" during Pope Francis' time in the city.
A roof partially collapsed and explosions could be heard inside a Folcroft, Pennsylvania warehouse as a three-alarm fire tore through the building Thursday night.
The fire started around 7:30 p.m. in the depot located along the 1000 block of Henderson Boulevard, fire officials said.
Officials believe oxygen containers are exploding from the intense heat inside the building. Firefighters have been unable to enter because of the danger.
It was nearly three hours before firefighters were able to bring the fire under control, officials said.
There are no reports of injuries. Officials have called in hazmat crews to assist.
