Several tow trucks were damaged by fire in Philadelphia early Friday morning and the fires are being labeled suspicious.

Firefighters were called out to 61st Street and Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia about 3 a.m.

When they arrived, they encountered several tow trucks that were on fire. The trucks were parked outside a towing company.

The extent of the damage to the tow trucks was not immediately known.

There were no reports of any injuries.

The cause is under investigation, but they are being investigated as suspicious.

Police say they have arrested a man caught cooking methamphetamine in his Chrysler sedan in a northern New Jersey parking lot.

The Record reports 34-year-old Christopher Poole was apprehended Wednesday night in a lot off state Route 46 in Wayne. He was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and related charges.

Captain Keith O'Sullivan says officers observed Poole moving around in his car, which soon became filled with white smoke, "filtering liquids and pouring substances into clear water bottles."

O'Sullivan says when approached, Poole told officers he was taking a break from his job at the Tilted Kilt restaurant.

Police say the manager of the restaurant, which shares the parking lot with a Ramada Inn, claims to have never heard of Poole.

It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney to comment on the charges.

Runners, walkers, and bikers will have a new place to go this fall as two of the area's beloved recreation trails get connected.

Officials, including Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, cut the ribbon on the Manayunk Bridge Trail Friday morning.

The trail, which is built on an railroad bridge, features scenic views of the Schuylkill River and historical context. It connects the Schuylkill River Trail to the Cynwyd Heritage Trail -- a connection broken for nearly 30 years.

To celebrate the new trail, runners and cyclists made their way from Spring Mill Station across the 0.6-mile Manayunk Bridge before enjoying a catered picnic in Lower Merion Township.

A private liberal arts college is cutting 20 jobs and eliminating more than a dozen academic majors to help close a budget gap.

Rider University President Gregory Dell'Omo announced the cuts Thursday during a town-hall meeting with faculty and staff.

He told NJ.com it's a tough decision but right for the university.

Dell'Omo, who took the helm at the school near Trenton in August, said declining enrollment has contributed to a $7.6 million budget gap in the school's $216 million budget. The layoffs are expected to save $2 million.

The jobs being eliminated include 14 full-time faculty positions.

Thirteen majors, including philosophy, piano, art history and French, will be cut next year. Current juniors and seniors will be able to complete degrees in programs they have begun, but younger students will need to find new majors or transfer.

The university said 272 students, nearly half of them freshmen and sophomores, are in the affected programs.

Jeff Halpern, contract administrator and chief grievance officer for the faculty union, said the faculty is "dispirited" and "morale is completely destroyed" by the announcement.

Rider, where tuition and fees are over $38,000 a year, has about 3,700 students. Overall, enrollment is 9 percent below 2009, and the number of first-year students this year is 14 percent lower than in 2014.

Dell'Omo said Rider is not in danger of closing.

An elderly school bus driver took evasive actions after police say a teenager ignored a yield sign along a Delaware roadway.

The bus – filled with 37 Sussex Central High School students – unfortunately still struck the teen’s Ford F250 pickup truck at Wood Branch Road and DuPont Boulevard (U.S. Route 113) around 3 p.m. Thursday, said Delaware State Police.

Investigators said the 17-year-old pickup truck driver was turning from the southbound lanes on Wood Branch when he failed to yield to the northbound traveling bus. George Haller, 81, was behind the wheel of the bus and swerved to avoid the truck moments before the vehicles collided, coming to rest in the northbound shoulder of U.S. 113.

A 16-year-old girl on the bus was treated for minor injuries, said police. No one else was hurt.

Police charged the teen with failure to yield and failure to have proof of insurance on hand.

Police said that both vehicles were able to be driven away from the scene.

Be careful what you wear as you walk by a school around Halloween. That's the message police hoped to get out after a man who looked ready for war darted into the woods behind a school.

A camouflage-clad man walking home the morning after a Halloween bash, put two Bucks County schools on lockdown Friday morning.

Upper Southampton Township Police warned people to think of what they are wearing after Klinger Middle School along 2nd Street Pike in Southampton, Pennsylvania and nearby Davis Elementary School were put on lockdown around 6:50 a.m. after someone spotted a face-painted man in camouflage on the main entrance road to the wooded Tamanend Park, which is adjacent to the middle school.

When an officer asked why the man was trespassing in the closed park dressed in camouflage and began to search him for weapons, the man – who initially was cooperating – pushed away the officer and darted into the woods behind Klinger.

At that time, both schools were put on a precautionary lockdown that restricted movement within the schools as officers initiated an intense search the park, said police.

Police lifted the lockdown around 10 a.m. after they took the suspicious man – who turned out to be a 24-year-old township resident with no previous criminal record – into custody. The man told officers he was walking home from a party the night before in his costume.

The man was processed and released and would receive a summons by mail.

Investigators said students were never in any danger and no weapons were found. And, photos on Klinger Middle's Twitter feed showed that the school's Halloween parade went on as planned.

Police urged the public to be careful how they dress for Halloween to avoid any other confusion.

A stray bullet from a shooting nearby struck a father watching his son practice with a South Jersey youth football team Thursday night.

Gunfire rang out around 7:25 p.m. at Jefferson and Fernwood avenues in Pleasantville causing players on the adjacent field to duck for cover, said Pleasantville Police.

A father sitting on the bleachers of the Pleasantville Junior Joker’s Field felt something sting his left shoulder as he ducked for cover. Realizing he had been shot, the 38-year-old man drove himself to the hospital where doctor’s removed the bullet, said investigators.

“There’s nothing to indicate that the victim was anything other than an unfortunate bystander who was here at the game like everybody else was,” said Pleasantville Police Chief Sean Riggin.

The gunfire apparently came when a fight between two men – who had nothing to do with the football team – escalated, said police.

Bullets also struck Jalmar Figueroa’s van as his wife sat in the driver’s seat.

“She’s very lucky because they said there were two shooters,” said Figueroa. “One from the back and one from the front.”

Grainy surveillance video show people ducking for cover. Police hope someone in the area knows something about the shooters.

“There’s no way that this happened and there’s not a large swath of people that know what happened or at least have heard information.”

Four officers were injured in a brawl outside Allen High School in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, just after school Thursday that left five students facing criminal charges.

Police told NBC10's Randy Gyllenhaal that officers were responding to reports of a large group of students fighting in the street when they were targeted.

Video posted to social media shows a female officer dragged to the ground and hit by a female student.

EDITOR'S NOTE: These videos contain profanity and violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

Two of the officers suffered minor injuries, while two others were treated for more serious injuries. All four were expected to be fine.

Around 200 students watched the brawl unfold, some capturing it on cellphones. Police said three teens were taken into custody following the incident and they also arrested two other teens Friday. The students face rioting and aggravated assault charges.

"We are going to investigate this until everybody involved has been identified," said Allentown Police Chief Keith Morris.

In response to the video posted by her son online, a mother sounded off in her own online posting. The woman shared that she believes there is more to the story and said that the incident was not about race, but a “way bigger issue.”

“I have witnessed my own child being thrown and pulled and being brought home from a officer bruised up,” the posting read.

The posting went on to say “there’s no reason our kids should be disrespectful but law enforcement needs to also understand they are still kids and man handling them as if they were adults is unacceptable.”

The Allentown School District released the following statement in response to the incident:

“The Allentown School District is working in partnership with the Allentown Police Department to ensure a thorough investigation of the incident that transpired at 12th and Chew Streets in the city on Thursday, October 29. The District does not tolerate behavior of this kind. APD Officers work diligently to ensure the safety of our students and this community, and an attack on an officer will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law. Our support goes out to the injured police officers and their families.”

Two people were rushed to the hospital after being shot in Chester Friday afternoon, police tell NBC10.

The shooting happened around 4 p.m. at W. 5th and Parker streets, police said.

The victims were rushed to Crozer-Chester Medical Center. Their conditions were not immediately known nor was a motive for the shooting.

A Philadelphia Police vehicle struck an officer wrestling with a ride-sharing driver who police say drove down from New York to smash up another vehicle Friday afternoon.

The wild scene played out around 1:40 p.m. along the 5500 block of Pine Street in West Philadelphia -- a short distance from the 18th Police District station -- after the suspect got out of his car -- the iconic pink Lyft mustache on its front dash -- and struck an unoccupied sport utility vehicle with a baseball bat.

Police said the 18th District officer saw the bat attack and tried to apprehend the suspect.

"The plainclothes officer along with the offender tried to run around the car that's now blocking the pathway as the uniformed officer was driving westbound on Pine," said Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker. "As they run into the street, the non-uniformed officer grabs the offender and they both fall onto the ground and unfortunately the van.. runs over the leg of... the police officer."

The incident left the officer hospitalized at Presbyterian Hospital in stable condition with a leg injury.

The suspect complained of aches and pains after the incident, so officers took him to the hospital for observation.

Investigators said the suspect had driven his taxi-and-limousine-licensed sedan from New York. The suspect -- a 30-year-old man from the Bronx -- drives for ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft, police told NBC10's Harry Hairston.

Lyft said that NBC10 made them aware of the incident. The ride-sharing service immediately deactivated the driver who had not had any previous incidents. Lyft also said they would be happy to cooperate with investigators.

The owner of the SUV was out of state at the time of the attack, said police.

Philadelphia was once called the Workshop of the World.

Factories throughout the city churned out everything from Stetson hats to beer to ships. But in the 1970s, when many manufacturing jobs moved away, these production facilities were shut down and left to rot.

Revitalization across the city has resulted in some being knocked down and others repurposed, but a few remain; their hulking, rusting walls still casting eerie shadows on some neighborhoods.

Matt Satell drove by a few of these shuttered factories and wondered what they looked like from above. Luckily, he's an aerial photographer who uses drones.

Satell, owner of Philly by Air, sent his remote-controlled copters into the air over six buildings around town hoping to get an up-close view of their ruins. The spots include the Willow Steam Plant in Northern Liberties, Quaker Storage in Poplar and Richmond Power Station in Port Richmond. He put them all together in a short video just in time for Halloween.

"I picked out those six specifically because of their architectural appeal and interesting history," he said. "It was fascinating to see them all up close and personal."

He put together some background on each building on Philly by Air's blog.

Halloween is almost here, and Google found a way to take the data from the Top 500 costume searches to help you pick yours, making your last-minute decision easier.

Now you can put down the scissors, and save your bed sheets. Frightgeist uses Google Trends to help you find what's the top costume in your state, so you will turn many heads at the Halloween party.

DC Comics-inspired Harley Quinn costume is trending No.1 in the Philadelphia area and nationally, with other costumes such as Star Wars, Batman and Minions sitting in the Top 10.

Many will question if this tool will get people out to the stores and buy the costumes?

A seasonal buyer for Party City stated that their top-selling costumes are Harley Quinn, Minions, Super Heroes (Hulk, Batman), and 'Frozen' characters.

A former heroin addict who turned to religion and became a prominent pastor has been found dead in his northern New Jersey church on Friday, authorities say.

The Rev. Ron Christian, 51, preached to those who walked in his shoes, and he was known for preaching to wanted murderers, drug dealers and other criminals. Christian would encourage them to do what was right and turn themselves in.

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office says a family member found him dead Friday inside the Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington.

The church was started by Christian, dubbed by some in his community the "urban pope," with roughly a dozen members. Today, it counts some 6,000 in its congregation. 

Many of them were at the church Friday to share hugs and tears, grieving over a hero of the streets. Shante McGhee was crying on the steps of the church. 

"He calls my son 'little preacher,' told me my son is going to be a preacher," said McGhee. 

Christian showed up everywhere, knew everyone and ministered to anyone, mourners said.

"He didn't care what your situation was, he was out there with you," said Rev. Jeffrey Brown of New Life Family Church. "If you was in the trench, he was in the trench with you."

Rev. Robert Cole Jr. of Holy Temple Baptist Church said, "As you see on the sign, 'All sinners are welcome,' and he meant what he wrote." 

Christian was a prison guard who battled heroin addiction before he lost his job and was sentenced to prison in 1996 for theft. Upon his release in 1997, he joined a church in Newark where his father, a retired pastor, was working.

He decided to follow in his father's footsteps and became a minister, which led him to this community where drugs and violence are daily problems.

He was known for being a pastor whom wanted murderers, drug dealers and other criminals could turn to: Christian would encourage them to do what was right and turn themselves in.

"Regardless of how incorrect or how bad the circumstance was, there needs to be a place where you are honest with God," he told The Star-Ledger in 2008.

"You do one ounce of bad and 50 pounds of good, and people always tend to focus on that one ounce of bad," said a community activist who calls himself Street Counsel, who himself served 20 years for armed robbery with a BB gun. 

"It's a major blow," he said. "He talks with you." 

Rev. Jacqueline Robinson of Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church just had breakfast with Christian Thursday. 

"He came in happy talking to the owner, he looks around and sees me, we hug," she said. 

In a statement, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said Christian's energetic sermons, dynamic personality and kind words inspired everyone he met. "It didn't matter who you were because Rev. Ron welcomed people from all walks of life into his church and into his own life," he said.

The prosecutor's office says foul play is not suspected, but officials are awaiting autopsy results to determine the cause and manner of death.

Christian is survived by his wife and five children.

A substitute bus driver in Delaware likely won’t be hauling kids around any longer after video surfaced of her yelling at students.

The incident happened Thursday on a bus carrying kids from Everett Mathis Middle School in Middletown, district officials tell NBC10. A parent said the driver started yelling after her 11-year-old son complained about supposedly being bullied.

In a statement, the district said a transportation supervisor quickly took action to address the issue and that they are taking steps to “ensure that this individual will not drive” for the district again.

Parents are being notified about what happened, the district said.