A Bucks County man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two children.

Jose Ramon Green, 75, of Warminster was arrested and charged with aggravated indecent assault of a child, corruption of minors and indecent assault.

Police say Green sexually assaulted a 13-year-old child and 8-year-old child in June of 2014. Green’s bail was set at $1,000,000 and he was ordered to have no contact with the children or any other juveniles. He was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility. Information on his lawyer was not immediately available.

Friends and family are mourning a police officer who died over the weekend.  Haverford Township Police Officer William Albertus passed away Sunday from a sudden illness.

Philly.com reports Albertus, 39, suffered a medical emergency on April 10 while playing hockey in a police league. He was hospitalized at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center where he died from natural causes Sunday.

Albertus was a seven-year veteran of the Haverford Township Police Department. He also served for three years with the Philadelphia Police Department before that, Philly.com reports. Albertus is survived by a wife and three children.

A viewing for Albertus will take place Friday, April 22 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at St. John Chrysostom Catholic Church on 617 S. Providence Road in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.

Another viewing will take place Saturday, April 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. followed by a funeral mass at 11 a.m. at St. John Chrysostom. A burial will follow at St. Peter and Paul cemetery on 1600 S. Sproul Road in Springfield, Pennsylvania.

A Philadelphia judge arraigned a suspected gunman with a lengthy rap sheet early Wednesday morning on attempted murder charges in the shooting of Officer James McCullough.

Suspect Scott Griffin was held without bail after being arraigned on attempted murder, robbery, assault and related charges, said court records.

Officer James McCullough, 24, of the 18th District, was shot in the left leg while trying to chase down Griffin after a carjacking attempt along Market Street Sunday night, said Philadelphia Police.

Griffin, 23, was taken into custody just before 1 p.m. Monday by undercover narcotics officers on North Alden Street, off Girard Avenue between 57th and 58th streets, police said. NBC10 learned Griffin was released from jail on another gun charge just last week.

Officers recovered a gun when Griffin was arrested and they planned to run ballistic testing to find out whether it was the weapon used in the officer shooting, officials said.

Griffin has 14 prior arrests, according to police and court records. Two are active drug cases and a gun charge. The gun charge was dismissed last week when two witnesses failed to appear for a preliminary hearing and Griffin was released from custody, said Josh Scarpello, his defense attorney in that case.

The case originated from a March 17 arrest, according to the court records.

It was dismissed last Wednesday and Griffin was released, Scarpello said. Griffin was arrested while allegedly possessing a gun inside a stolen vehicle, he said.

Four days later, Griffin, along with an accomplice, allegedly went on a crime spree in West Philadelphia — robbing one man at gunpoint and carjacking a woman.

The carjacking victim flagged down Officer McCullough along Market Street near Salford, police said.

McCullough went over to the woman's car and got into a physical confrontation with Griffin, Capt. James Clark said. Griffin broke free ran northbound on Salford Street as McCullough gave chase. During that pursuit, Clark said Griffin turned and opened fire. McCullough was hit once in the left thigh. The officer then pulled out his own weapon and fired three shots, Clark said.

As McCullough chased Griffin, the second suspect, 20-year-old Samir Coyett, ran onto SEPTA's Market-Frankford El platform and tried to catch a train but was apprehended after running back down to street level, according to police.

The bullet wound left McCullough bleeding profusely causing the officer to apply a tourniquet to his own thigh, said investigators. His partner rushed him to Penn Presbyterian Hospital where he was treated and then released Monday.

"He looked good," said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. "He's very strong, had a strong handshake and a strong conversation."

Before the carjacking, Griffin and Coyett robbed a man at gunpoint in the same area, Clark said. Coyett actually ran past the robbery victim while fleeing the scene, according to Clark.

Coyett has been arrested three times, Clark said. Police are working with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office on charges.

The shooting occurred about three blocks away from where fellow 18th District Philadelphia Police Officer Jesse Hartnett was shot during an ambush attack back on Jan. 7. Ross didn't draw comparisons between the shootings, however.

"I don't feel like police officers in this city are being targeted," said Ross. "This is a case clearly where this does not start with the police officers, this starts with two guys trying to commit a crime, that was unrelated with police. So this is not about an officer being targeted."

When people think the Philadelphia region and business school, they likely think of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School first but Wharton isn’t the best for undergrads, according to a new survey.

Bloomberg Businessweek named the Villanova University School of Business No. 1 for Undergraduate Business Programs. The No. 1 ranking came after placing 24th last year.

Nova came out near the top in the Employer Survey Rank, which made up 40 percent of Bloomberg’s total ranking. Bloomberg says it surveyed nearly 30,000 students and recruiters and nearly 600 companies while determining its rankings. [[376349951, C]]

The goal of the rankings is to highlights business schools with “the brightest possible career path,” said Bloomberg.

Nova came in at No. 10 in the student survey, 29th in starting salary rank and 15th in Internship rank.

Wharton, which placed a top the ranking for starting salary, came in at 16th overall – down seven spots from last year. Penn State’s Smeal School (No. 19), Lehigh (No. 32), College of New Jersey (No. 35) Drexel’s LeBow (No. 78) and Rutgers-Newark (No. 97) also made the Top 100 in Bloomberg’s rankings.

A nun will be punished for driving while intoxicated in South Jersey despite her defense that she has a history of sleepwalking and doesn't remember her arrest.

Gloucester County Judge Martin Whitcraft ruled Wednesday morning that Sister Kimberly Miller was guilty of DWI. NBC10's Cydney Long reported that Whitcraft didn't buy Miller's "sleepdriving" defense.

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Washington Township Police dashcam video captured Miller’s arrest Nov. 15.

Police said Miller was driving erratically along Route 42 and backed her silver Chevy Impala into the front doors of a Meineke Car Care Center. Miller failed a field sobriety test after she was pulled over, according to investigators. Police also said her blood alcohol concentration was twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent. She was later charged with DWI.

In court last week, Miller said she couldn’t remember anything about her arrest. Miller said she has a history of sleepwalking as well as a painful arthritic condition that requires medication. She claimed the condition keeps her from sleeping so she often drinks wine to help her get some rest.

Miller told the court she remembered attending an event at a children’s book store, then going back to her convent in North Philadelphia, where she put on her pajamas, drank a glass of wine, took Ambien and went to sleep. She claims the next thing she remembered was being at a police station in New Jersey and speaking to a police officer.

"I asked him where I was," Miller said. "I asked him how I got there. I asked him what time it was."

Whitcraft didn't buy Miller's story, saying there was no evidence she returned to the convent to take the sleeping pill and the prescription for the Ambien was one year old. He also cited case law while saying that "sleep driving" isn't a valid defense.

As part of her sentence, Miller's license was immediately suspended for 90 days. She must also pay a $650 fine and attend drunken driving classes.

Miller left through a back door and didn't speak to reports Wednesday. Her attorney said his client feels her reputation as a clergy person has taken a hit.

"She's obviously very upset," said attorney Jeff Lindy following Wednesday's sentencing. "She's in tears, she's crying and she's upset because she knows what happened that night. I think the conviction doesn't bother her as much as the judge not believing her -- I think that that hurts her."

Miller is a teacher at the Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls in Philadelphia. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office of Catholic Education placed her on administrative leave last year pending the outcome of the investigation. [[375626831, C]]

Students launched an online petition asking officials to let the well-liked sister keep her teaching job.

"She has helped her students blossom into the women they are today with her selfless devotion and dedication to her faith and job as a teacher," the petition reads. "In light of recent events, all of the positive things she has done should not be overshadowed by one negative wrongdoing."

The petition has more than 2,300 signatures.

Following Miller's conviction, the archdiocese said Miller's suspension remains in place as school officials "review the matter further," said archdiocese spokesman Kenneth Gavin.

A crash involving several vehicles left a tractor-trailer overturned and only one traffic lane getting by on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bucks County Wednesday morning.

Authorities said the crash, which involved four vehicles according to early reports, happened just after 8 a.m. in the westbound lanes of the Turnpike in Bensalem. One passenger vehicle and commercial vehicles were involved, according to police.

There was no word on injuries. Only the left lane was getting by in the wake of the crash, police said.

A two-alarm fire tore through an apartment building in Delran, Burlington County on Wednesday morning.

The first call for help went out just after 8:30 a.m., officials said, and firefighters responded to the fire, at Hunters Glen Apartments, on the 3000 block of Route 130.

The fire reached two alarms by 9 a.m. Video from SkyForce10 showed heavy flames and smoke engulfing one of the buildings at the complex.

Firefighters remained at the complex after 9 a.m. battling the blaze. There were no reports of injuries about 9 a.m.

It’s 4/20...the unofficial holiday celebrating the biggest illegal (yet legal) drug known to man: marijuana.

This year’s high holiday is even more timely since Pennsylvania became the 24th state to legalize the plant for medical use just this week. The Keystone State now joins New Jersey and Delaware who have been in the process of getting their own medical exchanges up and running.

There are an estimated 1.4 million medical marijuana users in the United States, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. And lots of them need help navigating the patchwork of cannabis types and offerings near them.

That's where WeedMaps comes in. The online service is billed as the oldest and largest technology company focused on marijuana. It’s like Yelp for weed -- offering menus for weed dispensaries, video tours and user reviews of products.

Launched in 2008, the site now boasts 4.5 million unique visitors a month and 1 million registered users on its platform. It’s also expanded into sales register systems and software for doctors offices.

Helping drive the company’s expansion as its president and general counsel is Lansdale, Pennsylvania native Chris Beals. The 36-year-old North Penn and University of Pennsylvania grad joined the company eight months ago and already has his sights set on turning it into the 'Google of marijuana.'

We talked to Beals about how technology is being used to help people better find the marijuana they need, why bud names like Sour Diesel and Yoda OG are old-hat, how they’re educating lawmakers on the issue and how lab testing and data is key to the industry’s future.

Our conversation was lightly edited for length and clarity.

NBC10: What’s a marijuana technology company?

CB: The thing most people know about us is the website WeedMaps that’s essentially a site where you can find doctors, dispensaries, delivery services, deals in states where marijuana been legalized.

Later this month, we’re launching brand pages which will enable people to start shopping by specific products which is a newer concept in the marijuana space. As mature people start to gravitate [to marijuana], they don’t want XYZ product, they want the product made by this brand which they know and love.

In addition to that we own Marijuana.com which is a news and information portal. We also have the largest point-of-sale system in Spain and one of the largest point-of-sale systems in the United States. We have a doctor management software suite and we’re working on a whole portfolio of additional software products so it’s not just the web advertising/marketing side.

We’re expanding internationally as well and we’re trying to be the Google or Oracle of marijuana.

NBC10: Why would a person use a site like WeedMaps?

CB: A good analogy is wine. Right now if you go into a liquor store, you expect to see a fairly wide selection of reds, whites, rosés, champagnes and other stuff.

With the way the marijuana market works, especially in states where there’s not a completely open market, you can walk into a store and they don’t have what you’re looking for.

It would be as if you walked into the liquor store and they had no red wine. And on top of that, if there’s only 150 stores in your state, you might have just driven 30 or 40 minutes to get there.

We’re doing integration with point-of-sale systems and allowing the dispensaries to update their menus. In addition, we do integrations with labs so you can see the actual lab testing data for that product, pictures of those products, a video tour of the dispensary so you know what the atmosphere is like, how knowledgeable the budtenders are to tell you about the products they have for sale.

So when you go there you know they have the products you are looking for and that work for you, and separately, that it’s lab tested.

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NBC10: Why is lab testing important? Is it just for safety?

CB: We know that dispensaries will change the names on products that come in to something that they know is selling really well. Or if something doesn’t look just the way it should for that strain [of marijuana], they’ll change it to another name so that it matches better. Or they’ll just completely come up with a new name as part of their branding efforts.

There was an origin to the strain names at one time, but we’re getting to a point now where growers will accidentally cross two different strains and wind up with something completely different and why try and go through the brain damage of trying to put a descriptive name on it.

That’s why I think this lab-tested data is important, even getting to the genetics, to help people understand what they’re consuming.

NBC10: Pennsylvania is now the 24th state to legalize medical marijuana, but each state’s law is different. Are there things you feel need to change in these states?

CB: I think it’s important to expand the list of medical conditions to more accurately reflect what people use marijuana for. Pennsylvania did a decent job on its list of conditions, but it could go slightly broader.

Separately, people would find it unacceptable if there were 150 CVS’s in a state, I think increasing access to more points of sale, potentially having delivery services for people in hospice care and people who have mobility issues. These are all things that we think are incredibly important before you move to the recreational side.

NBC10: What about recreational use? Will it ever happen nationally? Or will it be a state-by-state issue?

CB: It’s going to be piecemeal. We may see federal legalization of medical marijuana use, but I think the federal government is going to adopt a wait and see stance on this.

We generally do support the move to recreational use, but we’re pretty big advocates of a lot of safety measures. We’re incredibly passionate of advocating for better lab testing, more lab testing, broader lab testing panels to include terpenes (the oils in the cannabis plant that produce particular smells, color and tastes) which impacts what effects you feel when consuming marijuana.

A number of the senior execs at the company have children and we’re big advocates on the recreational side of having a consumption age of 21. Ensuring that advertising isn’t geared toward minors. Things like that.

On the flip side, we don’t want onerous regulations like setting high prices for the drug or only allowing a small number of dispensaries. This can sort of encourage the black market to flourish.

I think it’s in the state’s best interest, it’s in law enforcement’s best interest and ultimately, it’s in WeedMaps and the industry’s best interest for the black market to be extinguished. And I think so far, legislation in some states has been a main reason we haven’t quite gotten there.

NBC10: Do you think your websites are helping change public opinion about marijuana?

CB: I’ve been with the company for under a year and even in that short period of time I’ve seen a large shift in how people view the issue.

On the content side, I think content where people are just consuming marijuana is passé. People want to read stories or hear stories related to the industry or people in it. They don’t necessarily want to see people consuming marijuana because that’s just something that has kind of become normal at this point. It’s not the sort of taboo, curious thing that it once was.

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On the political front, we’re very active in trying to reach out to state and local governments to educate them about what we’re seeing that works and doesn’t work. We’re coming at it with somewhat of a neutral viewpoint because we’re never going to own dispensaries and we’re never going to run growing operations. We’re a technology and advertising company to our core.

Even in engaging with those state and local legislators, I’ve seen a shift in the questions that they’re asking. The conversation doesn't start with them being reserved and closed off. They’ll start the conversation with 'I know that intelligent marijuana legislation is the right way forward and I just need help understanding marijuana and understanding that right now is the time I’m going to take a stand on it.'

NBC10: Have you talked to our local lawmakers?

CB: We haven't had a ton of conversations in Pennsylvania. We’re starting to reach out right now.

In Pennsylvania, I think the biggest thing there is to make sure the legislation ensures safety, but on the flip side that it doesn’t produce costs that are so high that it’s not possible to run a profitable business in the state.

In New Jersey, a lot of folks are really interested in how marijuana legalization impacts things like reducing law enforcement costs or alleviating what’s traditionally been the really disparate impacts that marijuana prohibition has had on the incarceration of minorities. Even though the consumption rates are pretty much the same among African-Americans and Caucasian communities, you tend to see the African-American community get arrested at four times the rate.

They’re also trying to get medical up and running when you’ve potentially got Massachusetts going recreational this November.

NBC10: With a new state like Pennsylvania opening up to medical marijuana, what do you usually hear from new users?

CB: In new states, you’ll see people asking about 'What’s concentrate? What’s oil? How do I consume it?'

There’s so many new people who come in and say I’m eating edibles for the first time, there’s a milligram amount on the side of the package, what does that mean for me?

We’re launching a new platform about educating consumers about the products. So explaining what terpenes and cannabinoids are. Why I have to know what they are so that I understand how the marijuana is going to affect me. Will it make me feel full of energy? Will it make me sleepy? Will it relieve my pain?

NBC10: How did your friends and family react when you told them you joined WeedMaps?

CB: My mom specifically was not a big fan of it when I first told her.

I think overall, even now, my family has warmed up to it. I get a ton of questions now from my family asking 'Do you think marijuana would treat this?' or 'Do you think it would work for this?'

I was just at a marijuana conference up at Harvard Medical School and after that I got calls from my mom asking 'What were the studies? What did you hear?' So I don’t think she’s a fan of total recreational consumption, but I think she’s pretty open and I think she’s sort of a proud mom telling a lot of her friends 'Oh my son works for this large marijuana tech company.'

I have a few friends who actually work in law enforcement and I think even they have been sort of pleasantly receptive to this position.

Separately, a lot of my friends now always have questions about the latest things we're doing or what’s the latest state to legalized. For the most part, I think people surprisingly been receptive to it and I think that reflects a lot.

I knew people got the marijuana issue when my mom and grandmother were both asking me questions and were excited about the latest developments at work.

NBC10: How do you see your business growing over the next few years?

CB: Even if legalization stays where it’s at right now, I think there’s still a lot of room to grow.

The big areas of growth are going to be adding on new software products and servicing new states as they come online. Then I also think it’s going to be the development of a much broader data platform and data tools and sort of data analytics.

That’s one niche that we can fill because working on point-of-sale, having the core site and interfacing with consumers online and seeing what their browsing habits are eventually we want to glue that together and sort of provide data that’s useful to businesses.

But separately sort of help guide consumers as they do discovery through brands and learn about new products and that sort of thing.

The Philadelphia Eagles made a big splash Wednesday afternoon, announcing that they have traded a few draft picks to the Cleveland Browns for the second overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft.

They will receive the second pick and a 2017 fourth round pick for the eighth overall pick this year, along with their third and fourth round 2016 picks. The Browns will also receive the Eagles' first-round pick next year, and a second-round pick in 2018.

The huge haul required to secure the second pick will further bolster speculation around the league that the Eagles will take one of the two highly-touted college quarterbacks. They are North Dakota State's Carson Wentz and California's Jared Goff.

"By making the initial trade with Miami earlier this offseason and with this trade today with Cleveland, we feel that we have put ourselves in the best possible to draft an impact player," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said in a statement. "We will now focus our energy on the next step."

That next step will undoubtedly revolve around which quarterback to draft. 

Since 1980, thousands of people have signed up every year to participate in the Blue Cross Broad Street Run. Some are running for the challenge. Some are running for fun. Gina Koehler is running because she can.

Gina never thought she'd lace up for the Blue Cross Broad Street Run after she was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in May of 2010. Luckily, doctors caught the cancer early, and could easily treat it with an oral chemotherapy. Gina kept the chemotherapy routine going on and off for two and a half years. When she burned her thumb in December 2013 and the swelling did not go down, Gina's doctors knew something was wrong. The next day, she was told of the severity of her cancer. Gina was being placed on an intense treatment regimen. If it did not work, she may not live to see the end of the year.

Gina's fighting spirit never backed down.

As she started treatment, doctors saw progress. They decided a stem cell transplant would be a viable treatment option for Gina. Through the findings of a human leukocyte antigen test, or HLA test, doctors chose Gina's oldest sister as a perfect match for the transplant on May 1. Recovery was difficult and painful, but she never doubted and just planned on surviving. After a month of recovery, Gina felt ready to start mild physical therapy.

Physical therapy kept her moving and motivated. Towards the end of her physical therapy, Gina felt strong enough to sign up for a small 5K. Her goal was just to finish, - which she did. She did not have plans to participate in anything longer until she went to a runner's expo with her husband that Gina thought about participating in the Blue Cross Broad Street Run. She saw the table at the expo, and when she saw the date of the race, the same date as the anniversary of her Stem Cell transplant May 1, she knew is was the next step.

Gina explained the Blue Cross Broad Street Run is her way to honor those who helped her and her family during her illness. She recalls the small acts that stood out most- things like laundry detergent showing up on her front porch or neighbors taking her pets for sleepovers when Gina's family could not be home.

When thinking back on how far she has come, Gina's husband recalls the time she suffered from the side effects of the stem cell transplant-- including a large blister on the bottom of her foot. He says at that time, all Gina wanted was for her doctor to amputate her foot. Now, she is ready to run a marathon. This is a testament of Gina's determination and willpower. Through the Blue Cross Broad Street Run, Gina wants to prove to herself and others that cancer doesn't define her. 

Some 3 million children nationwide -- including about 200,000 in the tri-state area -- could lose their school meals if a drafted proposal to change the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition acts becomes law.

The measure could potentially put students in some of the country's poorest communities at risk for missing meals, according to a report issued earlier this week by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The proposal, made in a House Education and Workforce Committee discussion draft of a bill that would reauthorize the school lunch and child nutrition acts, suggests tightening schools' eligibility requirements for enrolling their entire student bodies in the school-meal program if a certain percentage of the students automatically qualify for school meals, according to the report.

Under the current law, schools where more than 40 percent of students automatically qualify for the federal school meals program can opt-in for free meals for the entire student population -- a measure known as "community eligibility." The new proposal would raise that threshold to 60 percent, eliminating free meals for thousands of students across the country, according to the center's report.

Locally, School District of Philadelphia schools, where 100 percent of students qualify for free lunches according to state statistics, likely would not be affected. But Archdiocese of Philadelphia schools -- and schools in Delaware and New Jersey -- could potentially suffer cuts.

Anne Ayella, director of community relations for the Archdiocese's Nutritional Development Services, said that the diocese is hopeful its schools would not be affected too drastically, because they group all of the schools together in their opt-in for universal school meals -- rather than allowing them to stand alone as individuals.

Ayella said that 70 schools in Philadelphia and its suburbs serving about 21,000 schools participate in the community eligibility program. As a result of the program, Ayella said, eight more schools in the Archdiocese recently began serving school breakfasts, increasing breakfast participation among students by 15 percent. She said the program has increased lunch participation by 10 percent.

The program "leveled the playing field," Ayella said.

"It's been fabulous," she said. "Kids who eat school meals do better."

In Pennsylvania overall, the center report estimates that 240 schools that have adopted the program -- and more than 132,000 students -- would be affected. In New Jersey, an estimated 29,300 students at 62 schools would be at risk and in Delaware, some 38,000 students in 73 schools could potentially lose their access to school meals.

The report says the measure that allowed schools to opt-in their entire student bodies for school meals simplified administration of the program for schools and decreased the stigma around low-income students getting meals at school, increasing student participation and helping to improve their diets, behavior and academic achievements.

Students are automatically qualified for the school meal program if their families receive the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (colloquially known as SNAP or food stamps), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program or similar programs. The center report said if the measure is passed, although the schools with the poorest students would likely not see changes to their programs, schools that serve lower-income communities would still suffer.

"The schools that would no longer qualify for community eligibility serve predominantly low-income students in some of our highest-poverty communities," the report reads. "And, in schools with such high concentrations of poverty, students who don't qualify for free or reduced-price meals are typically not much better off than those who do qualify."

The report estimated that in all, about 3.4 million children's school meals could be in jeopardy if the measure passes, plus more than 11,500 more schools across the country that are eligible for universal school meals but haven't adopted the program.

Ayella said if the provision does become law, even though the Archdiocese combines its schools for the program, students at some schools could suffer.

"Best-case scenario is that it doesn't come to fruition," Ayella said of the provision. "It would have an impact on us for sure."

It's unclear when the House Education and the Workforce Committee will consider the draft containing the provision or if this draft will be considered. Pennsylvania Congressmen Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, and Glenn Thompson, R-Bellefonte, are both on the committee. Neither responded to a request for comment on the provision on Wednesday.

A Drexel Hill catholic high school was placed on lockdown Wednesday after police found a gun, ammunition and marijuana inside a student’s locker, according to officials.

A spokesman for the Philadelphia Archdiocese said school administrators at Monsignor Bonner-Archbishop Prendergast High School received a report that a student had brought a firearm and drugs on campus. The school contacted Upper Darby Police who quickly responded.

The school was placed on lockdown as police searched through the building. Officials say police found a weapon inside one of the lockers as well as ammunition and marijuana on campus. No one was harmed during the incident and the lockdown was later lifted. All extracurricular activities took place on a normal schedule Wednesday afternoon and classes will operate normally Thursday.

Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood told the Philly Voice four students in all were arrested, two on marijuana charges and two on gun violations, in connection to the incident. Chitwood said another student witnessed the suspects, three of whom are students between the ages of 15 and 17, conducting a drug deal at a trolley stop across the street from the school at Lansdowne Avenue and Garrett Road shortly after 11 a.m. The student then told school officials who contacted police.

School officials contacted parents and informed them of the incident. Police continue to investigate.  

Darnell Richardson knew he couldn’t pass up on the opportunity when he spotted several police officers riding their bikes past his dance studio in West Philadelphia Wednesday. The 24-year-old founder and CEO of Danse4Ever Studios asked one of the officers to take a picture with some of his students and the officer agreed. Richardson later posted the photo on his Facebook page. It was only one of several examples of the positive impact his company has had on the Philadelphia community.

Richardson, a producer, choreographer, writer and director, created Danse4Ever Studios in 2012. Since its creation, the company has expanded rapidly. It currently has locations in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Georgia.

Richardson, who was born in Philly and currently resides in Smyrna, Delaware, told NBC10 the goal of his company is to not only provide affordable dance lessons to young children and teens growing up in rough neighborhoods but also provide a way for them to constructively express themselves and get them off the streets.  

During his lessons, Richardson frequently has discussions with his students, who range in age from 2 to 17, about the issues impacting their neighborhood, including the relationship between the community and police. That's why he felt compelled to ask the officer to take a picture with his students Wednesday.

“We want the kids to know the police are here to protect us,” Richardson said.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Danse4Ever Studios.