Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Category: Crime & Justice

  • A Delco firefighter was sentenced to house arrest for calling a woman the N-word during an argument

    A Delco firefighter was sentenced to house arrest for calling a woman the N-word during an argument

    A former assistant volunteer fire chief in Delaware County was sentenced Monday to 23 months of restrictive probation for calling a Black woman the N-word during what he described as a “road rage encounter” in 2024.

    John Romano, 48, must serve the first seven months of his sentence on house arrest, according to a ruling from Judge Margaret Amoroso. He also must undergo anger management and racial sensitivity training, and have no further contact with the victim.

    Amoroso convicted Romano earlier this year of ethnic intimidation, terroristic threats, and related crimes during a bench trial.

    During Monday’s proceeding, First Assistant District Attorney Kristin Kemp asked the judge to send Romano to jail for up to two years.

    “I don’t doubt he’s a racist,” the judge said. “But being a racist, in and of itself, is not a crime.”

    Amoroso said she was focusing more on threats Romano made to the victim, which included taking a picture of her license plate and telling her he would “take care” of her at her home.

    Delco officials condemn hatred as firefighter accused of yelling racist slurs faces criminal charges. Here’s what you need to know.

    Romano, the former assistant fire chief of the Sharon Hill Fire Company, encountered the woman on Hook Road in Darby Township in November 2024, while he was using a forklift to unload Christmas trees. His forklift was blocking the road, the woman testified at trial, causing a traffic jam of irritated drivers who were honking their horns.

    After the car in front of hers squeezed through a small gap near the forklift, the woman said, Romano got out of the forklift and “rushed” to her passenger window. Romano then called her the N-word. He later told Darby Township officers who responded to her 911 call that she was “a wild animal” and said he was “tired of dealing with them,” according to body camera footage played in court.

    In a statement to the judge, Romano said Monday that he never intended to threaten the driver, and expressed frustration that he was “being prosecuted over words.” He took a photo of her license plate, he said, because she struck his forklift and he was afraid she would drive off without exchanging insurance information.

    Kemp, the prosecutor, said Monday that Romano had demonstrated a pattern of violent, bullying behavior throughout his life, including an arrest in 2006 for ethnic intimidation in a similar incident and a 2013 gun-possession conviction for which he spent two years in state prison.

    “This isn’t someone who had a bad day and mouthed off about his beliefs,” Kemp said. “This is someone who seeks others out to put them in fear, whether with a weapon or his hands.”

    Romano’s attorney, Christopher Boggs, said the case had been blown out of proportion.

    “I have never understood the level of attention this case received,” he said.

    Unlike other people charged with ethnic intimidation, Romano had made no effort to “hunt or stalk” someone, Boggs said, drawing comparisons to crosses burned on Black families’ lawns.

    Two people close to Romano spoke on his behalf, saying, despite his strong personality, he is dedicated to his community through his volunteer firefighting, as well as other service he’s provided during floods and snow storms.

    But Amoroso made her feelings clear.

    “Maybe you’re a great guy to the people who don’t piss you off,” she told Romano. “But you’re a bully, and that’s what you did: You threatened [the victim] for pissing you off.”

  • 41 arrested in HUD-backed operation targeting Philly fugitives receiving public housing assistance

    41 arrested in HUD-backed operation targeting Philly fugitives receiving public housing assistance

    Forty one people in Philadelphia and surrounding areas were arrested in a sweeping operation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force this month, the agency said Monday.

    The effort, dubbed “Operation Moving Day” targeted people wanted for violent felonies who were living in federally subsidized housing.

    The initiative is part of a larger federal criminal enforcement campaign being carried out in cities across the country this year by the Inspector General’s Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development with support from U.S. Marshals.

    The Philadelphia-area operation led to the arrests of people wanted for felonies including arson, aggravated assault, armed robbery, crimes against children, and at least one shooting.

    Robert Clark, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals’ Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force, said most of those arrested during the operation were living in private apartment units and had been receiving subsidized rental assistance through federal programs.

    Arrests occurred in neighborhoods across the city, according to Clark, along with a handful of arrests occurred outside city limits and as far north as Lehigh County.

    Among those arrested was a 31-year-old man wanted by Philadelphia police for his role in an early August shooting. The incident occurred on the 3300 block of North Smedley Street and left a woman hospitalized with a shoulder injury.

    Marshals also arrested a 23-year-old employee of Bregy Elementary School in South Philadelphia who had been charged with indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor in late August, Clark said.

    The operation marked the first time U.S. Marshals in Eastern Pennsylvania took part in a joint law enforcement effort backed by HUD, he said.

    This summer, U.S. Marshals task forces in other major cities have aided HUD in arresting fugitives living in federally subsidized housing, such as Kansas City, Mo., Memphis, Minneapolis, and most recently in New York and New Jersey.

    The arrests were part of a national operation called ‘Operation Clean House.” The initiative launched after the success of an operation in Columbus, Ohio last winter that led to the arrests of more than 50 people with outstanding felony warrants, Clark said.

    A spokesperson for HUD did not immediately return a request for comment.

    In February, after 16 people were arrested in a similar operation in Minneapolis, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Acting Inspector General Brian D. Harrison said the operation had successfully targeted “dangerous fugitives” living in federally subsidized housing.

    “Defeating fraud in housing remains a top priority for HUD OIG,” Garrison said in a statement. “HUD housing is America’s housing serving millions of deserving Americans, and we are unwavering in our commitment to ensuring accountability throughout HUD’s programs.”

  • An ex-Delco official is on trial, accused of sexually harassing two of his female subordinates

    An ex-Delco official is on trial, accused of sexually harassing two of his female subordinates

    When Tim Boyce grabbed his executive assistant’s buttocks in 2024, she said Monday, she wasn’t sure how to report the incident to authorities in Delaware County.

    “The director of all emergency services, all 911, just assaulted me and made me feel the worst I had ever felt in my life,” the woman said at the start of Boyce’s trial on charges of indecent assault and harassment involving two of his former employees.

    “I didn’t know who to trust at that point,” she said, adding that she later told Boyce, then the head of county’s department Department of Emergency Services, his behavior had made her feel disgusting and “like a piece of meat.”

    Boyce was fired in May 2024, not long after the woman filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in which she also said he grabbed her cheeks and attempted to pull her in for a kiss.

    Criminal charges followed soon after that incident, along with allegations that Boyce had assaulted and harassed another female employee, who told investigators that Boyce showed her pictures of his penis, pulled up her skirt, and asked her if she enjoyed a particular sex act.

    In court Monday, Deputy Attorney General Madelyn Abry told jurors Boyce was confident that because of his position of authority, no one would find out about his actions.

    “What she thought she was getting was a job that would help her,” Abry said of the first victim. “But what she got was a job that was too good to be true.”

    Abry said the woman left her office on the day of the assault and never came back, resigning in a text exchange with Boyce in which he apologized to her.

    Boyce’s attorney, Andrew Edelberg, denied those assertions, telling jurors “there is not a single piece of corroborating evidence anywhere” supporting the charges against him.

    No one else witnessed the alleged assaults, he said, and the two women waited several months before reporting them to police.

    He described Boyce as a 40-year public servant, starting as an Upper Darby firefighter who “ran into burning buildings to save children.”

    The allegations, he said, came at a time when Democrats had come to power in the longtime GOP stronghold of Delaware County, and Boyce, a Republican, was “low-hanging fruit” for them to target.

    Edelberg also suggested that former District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, who, at the time the women came forward was running for attorney general saw the case as a way to boost his campaign. Stollsteimer lost his bid for that office and is now a county judge.

    “This case is about power, politics, and punishment, because of an administration change, and because someone was running for office and couldn’t look weak on TV,” he said. “And what else? Money, money, money.”

    Both women have filed civil suits against Boyce and the county, and Edelberg said they were motivated, in part, by potential monetary settlements.

    Boyce’s trial is expected to last through Friday before Delaware County Court Judge Stephanie Klein.

  • A man was fatally stabbed Sunday morning in Fairhill

    A man was fatally stabbed Sunday morning in Fairhill

    A man was fatally stabbed early Sunday morning in the Fairhill section of North Philadelphia, police said.

    Philadelphia police were called about 2:45 a.m. to a reported stabbing in the 200 block of West Lehigh Avenue. When officers arrived, they found a man with a stab wound to his chest.

    The man, who authorities did not identify, was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he died, police said.

    No further details were immediately available, and the investigation is ongoing.

    Through Saturday, Philadelphia police had reported 129 homicides this year. That compares with 164 through the same date last year and 404 through the same date in 2021.

    Anyone with information can contact the Philadelphia Police Department by calling the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477). Tipsters can remain anonymous.

  • A Montgomery County elementary school teacher sexually assaulted three teens, including a former student, DA says

    A Montgomery County elementary school teacher sexually assaulted three teens, including a former student, DA says

    A Montgomery County elementary school teacher and wrestling coach sexually assaulted three boys he encountered online, including one of his former students, prosecutors said Saturday.

    Jason Theodore, 54, began the assaults in 2019, plying the boys with marijuana and alcohol before forcing them to perform sex acts on him, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

    He told one of the victims, then 14, “I love how tiny you are,” police said.

    Theodore, of Upper Gwynedd, has been charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, and related crimes.

    He remained in custody, denied bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.

    For years, Theodore worked as a physical education teacher at Montgomery Township Elementary and a wrestling coach at Pennbrook Middle School, both in the North Penn School District, according to prosecutors.

    In a statement, North Penn School District Superintendent Todd M. Bauer said that Theodore was placed on administrative leave after district officials were notified by Upper Gwynedd police about their investigation into his alleged behavior.

    North Penn is cooperating with police, and Bauer said counselors are available to students.

    The investigation into Theodore began Sept. 9, when one of the victims filed a police report saying Theodore had sexually assaulted him starting in 2019, when he was 13 years old, the affidavit said.

    The boy was 17 when they last had contact in 2022. He told police that he befriended Theodore through Snapchat, and that Theodore had used a pseudonym and lied about his age, portraying himself to be much younger.

    From 2019 to 2022, Theodore repeatedly sexually assaulted him, sometimes recording the encounters. On one occasion, Theodore pressured him into having sexual contact with another teen, the affidavit said.

    That second teen later told police he met Theodore in a chat room in 2020 when he was 16 and later began messaging him on Snapchat. When the two finally met up, the teen recognized Theodore immediately as his former teacher and wrestling coach, and realized Theodore had sought him out after seeing him in the chat room.

    Like the first teen, the second teen said Theodore sexually assaulted him, and in his case continued to do so after he became an adult. He told police he “felt coerced and groomed by Theodore, resulting in long lasting embarrassment and shame about the physicality between him and Theodore,” the affidavit said.

    The third victim said he met Theodore when he was 14, in 2020, and that Theodore sexually assaulted him on three occasions, usually in Theodore’s vehicle.

    In an interview with police, Theodore admitted that he was attracted to “younger males,” but denied being involved with anyone underage, the affidavit said.

    When an officer mentioned the first victim’s name, Theodore became flushed and hid his face, but said he didn’t know the person the officer was referring to, the affidavit said.

    Theodore is scheduled to appear before a district judge for a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

  • Two officers in Cape May County fatally shot a man threatening a woman with a knife, AG says

    Two officers in Cape May County fatally shot a man threatening a woman with a knife, AG says

    Two police officers in Middle Township, Cape May County, shot and killed a man who was threatening a woman with a knife Friday, officials said Saturday.

    New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement that the two officers, whom she did not identify, encountered a disabled car on Route 9 near Satt Boulevard in Middle Township just before 10:30 Friday morning.

    As the officers approached the vehicle, they heard screaming from within it, and forced their way inside to see a man “holding a knife” against a female passenger, according to the statement.

    Both officers shot at the man, killing him. Neither the man nor the victim was named by authorities.

    The victim was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of minor stab wounds.

    The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office had announced an investigation into the shooting on Thursday, but had said only that it involved police.

    As with any fatal encounter with police, the case will be submitted to a grand jury for investigation, Davenport said.

  • A man was charged with ethnic intimidation after allegedly trespassing at a Philly synagogue

    A man was charged with ethnic intimidation after allegedly trespassing at a Philly synagogue

    A 34-year-old Philadelphia man was arrested and charged with ethnic intimidation after he allegedly trespassed at a synagogue with a preschool, tried to open doors, and made antisemitic statements, authorities said Friday.

    Angel Viera was taken into custody and also charged with defiant trespass and disorderly conduct, court records show. His bail was set Friday at $25,000 unsecured.

    Police said that around 10 a.m. Thursday, officers responded to the Germantown Jewish Centre in West Mount Airy for a report of a disturbance involving an unidentified man who was refusing to leave the property.

    The man, later identified as Viera, “had been pulling on doors and attempting to gain entry to the school and synagogue,” a police spokesperson said in an email Friday.

    “Security personnel instructed the male to leave the property, but he refused. While on the property, the male made several derogatory and antisemitic statements directed toward Jewish people,” the police spokesperson said.

    Viera was then arrested, police said.

    Nina Peskin, executive director of the Germantown Jewish Centre, said in a phone interview that a security guard first noticed Viera allegedly standing across the street and appearing to take photos or videos with a phone of the property.

    Viera then allegedly crossed the street and a lawn area to attempt to open several doors, Peskin said. The security guard, who called police, allegedly told Viera that he was on private property and that he should leave.

    Viera then sat on a curb of the property’s driveway and allegedly refused to leave until after police arrived within three minutes of being called, Peskin said.

    He allegedly said “F— the Jews” and questioned the security guard for working for a Jewish institution, Peskin said.

    The Germantown Jewish Centre has been the target of two bomb threats and multiple hostile phone calls in the last few years.

    However, this time a man allegedly tried to enter the property while children were attending the synagogue’s preschool, Peskin said.

    “This felt different,” Peskin said, adding that the incident has rattled “our whole community.”

    Viera is represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia. George Jackson, a spokesperson for the association, declined Friday to comment on the case.

    Philadelphia police have offered to provide an increased presence at the synagogue and preschool, Peskin said.

    Although no one was injured, Peskin said she fears the situation could have been much worse.

    “If he had entered the building, it would have been a different story,” Peskin said.

  • Man killed in a shooting that involved police in Cape May County

    Man killed in a shooting that involved police in Cape May County

    New Jersey officials are investigating a shooting that involved police in Middle Township, Cape May County, that left a person dead Friday morning.

    The incident occurred near Route 9 and Satt Boulevard just before 10:30 a.m. Friday, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. One man was killed, though officials did not identify him publicly.

    The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office said no further details about the circumstances of the incident or the people involved were immediately available. Officials said the shooting involved police but did not specify who fired the shot that killed the man, or how many officers were involved.

    There was no ongoing threat to the public, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The area where the shooting took place was closed as the investigation progressed Friday afternoon, the Middle Township Police Department said in a social media post.

    Prosecutors noted the scene had been secured, and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office was investigating the incident.

    Middle Township police referred requests for comment to the prosecutor’s office, which referred requests to the state attorney general’s office.

    New Jersey law requires the attorney general’s office to conduct an investigation when a person dies during an encounter with law enforcement. The results of the investigation are to be presented to a grand jury, the prosecutor’s office said.

  • Man convicted of murder in West Philadelphia shooting that left three dead, injured several others

    Man convicted of murder in West Philadelphia shooting that left three dead, injured several others

    A man who fired shots during a gun battle in West Philadelphia that left three men dead and wounded several others two years ago was convicted of murder this week.

    Tahir Shoatz, 30, was found guilty of third-degree murder in the death of Sekayi Robinson, 23, as well as attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, four counts of reckless endangerment, and three firearms offenses, following a bench trial in Common Pleas Court.

    But Judge Roxanne Covington on Thursday acquitted Shoatz of murder in the deaths of brothers Akil Jones, 33, and Rashie Jones, 29, concluding that he did not fire the shots that killed them on July 21, 2024.

    That night, gunfire shattered a block party on the 1200 block of North Alden Street, where more than 100 people had gathered, prosecutors said. In addition to the three killings, six people were injured by bullets — including Shoatz, who was shot in the abdomen, shoulder, and knee, and his co-defendant in the case, Amir Jones, who was struck by two bullets on his left side.

    Covington also acquitted Shoatz of 15 other charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, and other offenses.

    The mass shooting stemmed from an argument between Akil Jones and Shoatz that turned physical when Shoatz reached for a handgun at his waistband, Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope said during the trial. Amir Jones — who is the brother of Akil and Rashie Jones — intervened in the fray to help his brother, Pope said, seconds before the first shot rang out.

    Prosecutors initially charged Jones with three counts of murder and four counts of aggravated assault, as well as multiple counts of reckless endangerment and firearms offenses. But they dismissed the murder and aggravated assault charges against him at the start of the trial.

    And on Thursday, Covington acquitted Jones of the remaining charges against him.

    The prosecution’s case relied heavily on surveillance and police body-worn camera footage that captured the shooting and its aftermath. Pope said the footage showed multiple shooters, including Shoatz, Amir Jones, Robinson, and another man. Police recovered 41 bullet casings and fragments from the scene, she said, and determined Rashie Jones had also fired a gun.

    After watching the footage several times, the judge said “it is clear” that the other man — whom prosecutors said has not been identified by police — killed Akil Jones. But it was unclear who shot Rashie Jones, she said, because “that is never seen on video.”

    Shoatz’s attorney, Robert Gamburg, contended that Shoatz had been disarmed by Amir Jones during the brawl, then shot multiple times. “He was a victim in this case,” Gamburg said. “He has always been a victim.”

    Shoatz is scheduled to be sentenced in December.

  • Atlantic City’s top cannabis official was charged in a scheme to solicit bribes from a weed business

    Atlantic City’s top cannabis official was charged in a scheme to solicit bribes from a weed business

    Atlantic City’s top cannabis official is facing federal charges for a scheme to solicit cash bribes from a dispensary owner in exchange for fast-tracking their license and avoiding city fees.

    Kashawn “Kash” McKinley, 42, commonly referred to as “A.C.’s Weed Czar” for his role overseeing the city’s legal marijuana industry, was charged with honest services fraud and two counts of soliciting bribes, U.S. Attorney in New Jersey Robert Frazer announced Thursday.

    In a statement, Atlantic City officials said that Mayor Marty Small Sr. had been apprised of the case and that McKinley had been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case. Small “believes in the justice system, and Kashawn McKinley is innocent until proven guilty, like any other American,” according to the statement, which said the mayor promised transparency around the proceedings.

    A public defender assigned to McKinley declined to comment.

    As the director of Atlantic City’s constituent services, McKinley solicited more than $20,000 in cash and marijuana from the cannabis business owner, according to federal prosecutors. In exchange, McKinley assisted the owner, who was not identified by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in opening a dispensary and resolving certain fees owed to Atlantic City.

    The would-be dispensary owner contacted McKinley in late 2022 for guidance on opening a cannabis business in Atlantic City, prosecutors said. At McKinley’s direction, the duo first met in a parking lot of a defunct Atlantic City restaurant where McKinley told the owner that in exchange for $20,000, he could “help” resolve any issues with opening the dispensary in town, according to prosecutors.

    “We all need to eat,” McKinley allegedly told the dispensary owner at the time.

    The dispensary owner would go on to pay McKinley the $20,000 over the next few months in two installments. Soon after, the owner’s license was approved by the local oversight board, where McKinley is a member.

    Two years after opening, the dispensary owner contacted McKinley in 2025 about the more than $25,000 in fees and taxes the owner owed to Atlantic City for operating the dispensary.

    Prosecutors say that McKinley’s solution to the fees was to reclassify the dispensary from a standard mercantile license down to a “micro” license, which would result in the business needing to pay only $2,500 in annual fees and taxes.

    As part of the reclassification scheme, prosecutors say, McKinley allegedly directed the dispensary owner to orchestrate the assault of a person who McKinley said was “disrespecting” another public official. When McKinley was later shown what prosecutors say appeared to be a photograph of the injured victim, McKinley allegedly “expressed pleasure” and assured the dispensary owner that they “don’t have to worry about nothing” in relation to the disputed city fees.

    Throughout McKinley and the dispensary owner’s exchanges, the weed official would ask for “care packages,” which prosecutors believe to mean bribe payments and samples of weed.

    Since McKinley and the owner were able to reclassify the dispensary down to a micro business license in January, the owner was owed a $25,000 refund from Atlantic City for previously paying the standard license fees. McKinley requested half of that refund from the dispensary owner, according to prosecutors. In March, the dispensary owner gave McKinley a $6,000 kickback from the refund, prosecutors said.

    McKinley’s fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Each bribery charge carries a 10-year maximum prison sentence and a fine of up to $250,000.