State briefs
Man convicted HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) – A western Pennsylvania man has been convicted of breaking into a car two years ago and then using a screwdriver and a pair of pliers to stab and slash a man who tried to stop him.
A Blair County jury on Wednesday found Larry D. Walls guilty of aggravated assault, robbery, theft and other charges in the December 1999 incident in Altoona, about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Walls, 33, of Altoona, who has a lengthy criminal record, could face more than 10 years in prison, prosecutor Doug Keating said.
Prosecutors said Scott Bittner, 28, the brother of the car’s owner, ran after Walls and two other men who were breaking into the car. Bittner caught Wells and the two then began fighting.
During the fight, Walls stabbed and slashed Bittner at least two dozen times with the tools and stabbed the pliers into Bittner’s neck, narrowly avoiding an artery, prosecutors said.
Walls’ attorney Ed Zang argued that most of Bittners’ wounds were scratches.
Residents warned
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A western Pennsylvania city is trying to cut down on overgrown properties, warning residents that they face paying as much as $60 to have city employees mow their lawns for them.
Johnstown officials recently updated a 70-year-old ordinance detailing how high weeds, grass and other vegetation can grow. Although foot-high grass and weeds were considered acceptable in 1933, these days 8 inches is the limit.
People who allow their lawns or property to become overgrown will be given five days to trim the growth or pay the city as much as $60 to take a whack, said Mike Grandinetti, the city’s codes enforcement officer.
Aside from being unsightly, city officials say the overgrown areas are also unsafe.
“The longer the grass and vegetation grows, the easier it harbors varmints and rodents,” said Jeff Silka, city manager.
Notice served
YORK, Pa. (AP) – A 17-year-old boy was served with notice that prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if he is convicted of first-degree murder.
Dennis Toby was arraigned on criminal homicide and other charges Wednesday in the March 23 death of Steve Strickler, 23. The victim died of multiple gunshot wounds in his home.
Prosecutors said the death penalty is applicable because Strickler was killed during the commission of a felony and because the killing was drug-related.
Toby’s co-defendant, Harry Burdell King III, 23, is scheduled to be arraigned on the same charges Aug. 18 and the prosecution also plans to seek the death penalty for him.
Toby and King are both being held without bail.
Worker identified
BOALSBURG, Pa. (AP) – A construction worker who was injured in a propane explosion at the home where he was working has been identified, and authorities have found the cause of the gas leak.
Police said Richard E. Weaver, 31, of Bellefonte, suffered second- and third-degree burns on his head, chest and arms after propane gas exploded outside in Harris Township, Centre County, on Tuesday afternoon. He was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital Burn Center near Allentown.
State College Police Sgt. John Wilson said Wednesday that a pipe on an underground propane storage tank was damaged, causing the leak. A dump truck at the site accidentally ignited the gas, Wilson said.
Suspect faces trial
PALMYRA, Pa. (AP) – A district justice decided there is enough evidence to make a man stand trial for homicide, despite the defense lawyer’s argument that prosecutors have not even proved that the alleged victim is dead.
Lebanon County prosecutors contend that Antone Wilson, 53, of Susquehanna Township, killed Tanya Taras, 35, more than three years ago. Taras disappeared from her Palmyra apartment on June 6, 2000. Three days later, police found her car in Philadelphia; her body has not been found.
Authorities said Wilson had been Taras’ alcohol counselor through the White Deer Run treatment center in Allenwood. They claim he had sex with her, then killed her on the day of her disappearance, after he was suspended from his job.
Youth pleads guilty
LEBANON, Pa. (AP) – A boy who made bomb threats to his high school and later told police that he did it to cancel classes so he could spend time with his girlfriend has pleaded guilty to terroristic threats and other crimes.
If his plea is accepted, Kevin Fuhrman Jr., 17, will get 22 to 44 months in state prison followed by seven years of probation.
Fuhrman also used a fake gun to rob a woman of her purse; he told police he robbed her because he wanted money to buy his girlfriend a television set.
Defense lawyer Howard Knisely said prosecutors would recommend that Fuhrman receive minimal fines so that he can pay off restitution.
Fingerprints required
EASTON, Pa. (AP) – Northampton County officials now require all new foster parents to provide their fingerprints so the FBI can run a criminal background check.
The new policy also applies to anyone else living in prospective foster parents’ homes.
Kevin Dolan, manager of the Division of Children, Youth and Families, said county officials had been planning to institute the fingerprinting policy for some time. He said the plans were in the works before news broke recently that a convicted pedophile had tricked the county into letting him be a foster parent by using his son’s Social Security number instead of his own.
Man sentenced
STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) – A man who said he attacked an elderly man with a baseball bat because he thought the man was trying to steal his dog was sentenced to three years of probation.
Norman Hanawalt, 68, told police that he had befriended the dog that belongs to Philip Brown, 37, of Stroudsburg because his own dog had died. He had been giving food to Brown’s dog for several months because it appeared to be underfed, he told police. Hanawalt said he had gotten a new dog shortly before the April 2002 attack and was saying goodbye to Brown’s dog when Brown attacked him.
Police said Brown not only hit Hanawalt when he was in Brown’s back yard, he also chased him across two lanes of a four-lane highway and onto the median, where he continued to hit him.
A judge also fined Brown $1,000 this week and ordered him to perform 25 hours of community service.