| WANTED AND BUSTED IN CHESTER CO. PA. |
EAST NOTTINGHAM
State Police arrested an inttoxicated man found with a loaded gun lying in someone's backyard records say .
Ploice arrested Wayne John Lauer of Oxford about 12:45a.m. Saturday in the 100 block of Oford rd police said.
a resident called to complain about Lauer lying in the backyard police approached they noticed a loaded handgun was tucked into his waistband,police said he was intoxicated Police said Laauer is not permitted to carry a gun.noris he licensed to carry a concealed gun.
| Police hunting bandits who target victims along railroad tracks
State and local police are searching for a group of bandits who assault and rob people walking on the East Penn Railroad tracks in Kennett Township, Kennett Square and New Garden Township.
The most recent incident occurred June 5. Officers from the municipalities, the state police, police dogs and a sheriff’s department helicopter responded.
Kennett Square police said last week’s robbery occurred along the railroad tracks behind the Kennett Fire Company. The victim told police three black men attacked him and four men ran away. One wore a white T-shirt, one wore a red T-shirt and two wore black T-shirts.
State police later saw five suspects on the tracks at Scarlett Road in New Garden run off into the woods at the old Nosnesky Junkyard property between Mill Road and the shopping center. They eluded capture.
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Kennett Township Police Chief Albert McCarthy, who also responded to the call, said there was a rash of armed robberies along the tracks seven or eight years ago.
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Police catch HOMICIDE SUSPECT
AFTER DISCOVERING THE BODY OF A 25-YEAR-OLD HISPANIC FEMALE IN PA.
, AUTHORITIES ARREST EX-BOYFRIEND IN LOUISIANA
By JENNIFER MILLER, Staff Writer
WEST FALLOWFIELD — After finding a 25-year-old woman’s body hidden at a dairy farm here authorities arrested her ex-boyfriend in Louisiana for her strangulation.
Mauricio Jose Bedolla-Camacho, 26, of West Fallowfield, was in federal custody at the Orleans Parish Prison for an immigration violation when police discovered the body of Daicy Vasquez-Bedolla, 25, of Kennett Square, state police said.
Investigators discovered the body Thursday in a remote area of a farm in the 1600 block of Bush Road where the accused killer worked, police said.
Later on Thursday local investigators went to the Orleans Parish Prison to interview Bedolla-Camacho. Police would not say Tuesday night why Bedolla-Camacho was in Louisiana nor how the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency gained custody of him.
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After consultation with the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, local authorities obtained an arrest warrant and charged the defendant with homicide and related offenses. Police said he is being detained as a fugitive, pending extradition to Pennsylvania.
The investigation began when the victim’s parents reported her missing to the Kennett Square Police Department on Monday. She did not come home after work on Sunday and they could not get in contact with her, police said.
“As the missing person investigation progressed, Kennett Square police became increasingly concerned for the victim’s safety and began to strongly suspect that foul play was involved in her disappearance,” state police said in a prepared statement.
Police would not elaborate Tuesday night on what specific factors led them to suspect foul play.
When Kennett Square police obtained leads out of their jurisdiction, the department reached out to Chester County Detectives and the state police in Avondale for assistance.
An autopsy indicated Vasquez-Bedolla was strangled, police said.
The victim and accused murderer have a small child together, police said.
Assisting in the investigation were the New Garden Police Department, the Harrisburg River Rescue Team, the Dauphin County Sherriff Department K-9 Unit and immigration officials.
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Man convicted of trying to steal ATV from Hershey’s son
HE AND TWO OTHERS ATTEMPTED TO TAKE VEHICLE FROM COCHRANVILLE FARM; WHEN THEY WERE CONFRONTED, A SHOT WAS FIRED AT A FARMHAND
By MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN, Staff Writer
WEST CHESTER — A Lancaster County man was found guilty Thursday of trying to steal an ATV from the Cochranville farm of the son of state Rep. Art Hershey, a crime that was thwarted when a farmhand came upon the man and his two co-conspirators and chased them off the property.
A jury of six men and six women found John Welch Jr., 21, of Kinzer, guilty of robbery, aggravated assault, attempted theft, possession of an instrument of crime and related charges in connection with the July 16, 2005, incident, in which Welch, Cody Gallup and William Martoia went to the AR-JOY Farm in West Fallowfield looking for an ATV to steal.
Around 4:30 a.m., the trio were interrupted by Rigoberto Mondragon, an employee of the farm, who chased them across the property, according to police reports.
During the chase, one of the men stopped and drew a pistol on Mondragon, firing one shot at him. The shot missed, and Mondragon continued to chase the man and his partners from the farm in a truck, eventually losing sight of them. Police arrested Welch a few days later after Gallup told police what had happened, and police were later able to record Welch telling a confidential informant about the crime.
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Although the prosecution had contended that Welch was the man who fired the shot, the jury acquitted him of a separate count of robbery that involved possession of a firearm, indicating that they believed him guilty of being a part of the robbery as a co-conspirator only.
“It’s not exactly what we were looking for,” said Ron Yen, the assistant district attorney who tried the case in front of Judge Thomas Gavin. “We were convinced that he was the shooter. But we respect the jury’s verdict.”
Joseph P. Green Jr., Welch’s attorney, had argued to the jury that although his client was present at the farm and had been involved in the attempt to steal the ATV, it was in fact Gallup who pulled the gun on Mondragon and not his client.
“Was John Welch the Epson with the gun?” Green asked in his closing statement. “Certainly not.”
He said that Gallup and Martoia, who testified for the prosecution against Welch, had blamed him for the shooting to get a break on their jail sentences. Both had pleaded guilty in the case previously.
After the verdict, Green said he felt vindicated.
“I feel extraordinarily grateful for the jury’s efforts,” he said. “It’s a very complicated case legally. The prosecution charged him with being the shooter, but I always believed he was not. The jury agreed.”
Welch, who was 19 and an an admitted heroin addict at the time of the attempted theft, had himself pleaded guilty to charges of attempted homicide and robbery in the case in February 2006. As part of a plea agreement between himself and the prosecution, he was sentenced to eight to 20 years in state prison.
But the judge who oversaw his case in 2006 found that his attorney at the time of his plea had given him bad advice when he told him that he was certain to be convicted of the crime of attempted murder, whether the jury believed his side of the story or not. Judge John Hall in March 2007 granted him a new trial after Green successfully argued that the attorney had been ineffective.
Welch, who had been serving his sentence in the State Correction Institution at Somerset, was released on bail after serving about 29 months of his sentence. He remained free after Thursday’s verdict pending formal sentencing by Gavin next Thursday.
Gavin dismissed the charges of attempted murder against Welch during the trial, finding there was not sufficient evidence that Welch — if he was indeed the shooter — had intended to kill Mondragon.
The AR-JOY Farm had been owned by Art Hershey, R-13th, of Cohranville, the veteran Harrisburg legislator who is retiring this year, and his wife, Joyce Hershey. They sold it some years ago to their son Duane Hershey and his wife, Marilyn, who testified during the trial.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan, send an e-mail to mrellahan@dailylocal.com.
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AVONDALE PA STATE TROOPER KILLED
3/27 2008
TROOPER KILLED BY CAR CRASH
24-YEAR-OLD KENTON IWANIEC HAD BEEN ON THE FORCE A LITTLE LESS THAN THREE MONTHS
By JENNIFER MILLER, Staff Writer
LONDON GROVE — A state trooper who was on the job for less than three months died Friday after a car crash Thursday night, police said.
Trooper Kenton Iwaniec, 24, of Lancaster and formerly Westmoreland County, was heading north on Route 41 at Mosquito Lane when a southbound vehicle driven by Kristina M. Quercetti, 40, of Landenberg, crossed into his lane, police said.
Quercetti first hit a vehicle driven by Larry Keith, 64, of Ephrata, on the driver’s side and then hit Iwaniec head-on, police said.
Iwaniec was flown to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., where he later died from his injuries, police said.
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Quercetti and a 5-year-old boy passenger were taken to the hospital via ambulance, police said. Quercetti suffered minor injuries, but the child was not injured, police said. The driver of the third vehicle, Keith, was not injured and drove away, police said.
All involved were wearing their seat belts, police said.
Iwaniec just graduated from the State Police Academy on Dec. 21 with 37 other troopers and joined the Avondale barracks afterward.
Iwaniec’s family, who lives in Ligonier in Western
Pennsylvania, was traveling to Chester County on Friday, according to state police spokesman Jack J. Lewis.
“All aspects of the crash” are still under investigation, Lewis said.
Gov. Ed Rendell issued a statement Friday afternoon.
“Trooper Iwaniec died just three months after graduating from the State Police Academy,” Rendell said. “His death deprives us of a young man who had decided to dedicate his life to serving the citizens of Pennsylvania. Marjorie (Rendell’s wife) and I extend our deepest sympathies to the trooper’s family.”
Investigators ask anyone who may have witnessed the crash or the events leading up to the crash to call police Cpl. Steven Rank or a criminal investigator at the Avondale barracks at 610-268-2022
SORRY TO HEAR THIS AFTER 25 YEARS FOR WORKING WITH THE POLICE DEPT IN SO CHESTER CO IT HURTS DEEP DOWN INSIDE THE YOUNG MAN NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO SHOW HOW GOOD OF A TROOPER HE CAN BE SORRY TO SEE YOU GO AND YOU WILL BE MISSED MAY GOD BLESS YOU
( MICHAEL S.RUOSS Founder of PA RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS )
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| 911 chief's wife caught in sex sting, police say |
| PHILA. COPS CHARGE 49-YEAR-OLD PAOLI WOMAN WITH PROSTITUTION |
| By R. JONATHAN TULEYA, Staff Writer |
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The wife of the director of Chester County’s Department of Emergency Services was among five women arrested during a prostitution sting in Philadelphia earlier this week, according to police.
Theresa Atkins, 49, of the 100 block of Woodgate Lane in Paoli, was arrested inside a Center City Hotel and charged with prostitution on Wednesday, Philadelphia police said.
Atkins is the wife of Edward J. Atkins, who has worked for the county, supervising its network of emergency services for 10 years.
Theresa Atkins answered a telephone call placed to the couple’s home Friday afternoon, but she declined to talk about the matter.
“I appreciate the call, but no comment,” she said.
Evelyn Walker, the county’s chief management officer, said the Chester County Commissioners would not be discussing the arrest either.
“They will not be commenting,” Walker said. “It’s not one of our employees.”
Walker said Edward Atkins has not been demoted or fired and the county is not considering taking any disciplinary action against him.
Chester County District Attorney Joseph Carroll said he had no additional information on Theresa Atkins’ arrest other than what had been released by Philadelphia police.
The Philadelphia police’s undercover operation that ended with the arrest of Theresa Atkins and the other alleged prostitutes began when a man complained to police in February that he had been robbed at knifepoint by a man just before a rendezvous with an escort inside a city hotel.
The robber reportedly stole $120 from the victim, police said.
The department’s vice enforcement unit responded by contacting several different escort agencies with advertisements published in local newspapers and the Internet and scheduled appointments with women, reports say.
Another alleged prostitute, Tlene Dowling, 22, of Rockledge, was also charged in connection with the February robbery, police said.
Theresa Atkins was at least more than 25 years older than the other four charged, whose ages ranged from 19 to 23 years old, according to authorities.
When Edward Atkins was hired in October 1997, the Department of Emergency Services was in an uproar. The retired U.S. Air Force colonel was charged with rebuilding the dispatch system staff, ironing out problems with the 911 system, figuring out a way to make the county’s new dispatch radio system work properly and restoring ruffled or worse relationships in and among police departments, fire departments and ambulance services. He is largely credited with meeting those goals.
The DES director most recently made news in Chester County for his presentation to the county commissioners on the upcoming rebanding project for the county’s emergency radio system.
The federally mandated upgrade of the existing 800 MHz broadcast to a frequency at the other end of the radio spectrum is supposed to eliminate interference problems with cellular telephones.
Atkins has estimated the cost to the county would be between $18.5 million and $150 million.
Staff writer Michael P. Rellahan contributed to this article.
To contact staff writer R. Jonathan Tuleya, send an e-mail to jtuleya@dailylocal.com.
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