Community Corner

Lost Luge Sleds, 'Serial Rapist' Allegedly Attacks Pregnant Teens Top Lehigh Valley News

Jimmy Fallon strumming Martin Guitar and troopers honored at White House for saving boy are also among top headlines.

Pennsylvania state police at the Bethlehem barracks were trying to locate sleds used by the U.S. Luge Team after the equipment fell off a truck and was picked up by someone on Feb. 15. The team, based in Lake Placid, N.Y., was training on a Lehigh Valley ski slope last week and was on the way back to a hotel. The rear door of a truck carrying their sleds was not securely fastened and fell open. On Friday state police reported the luges were recovered.

Troopers Honored at White House for Saving Kidnapped Boy

Two Pennsylvania state troopers were honored -- one of them posthumously -- at the White House Wednesday for rescuing a 9-year-old Nazareth boy kidnapped at gunpoint by his father. Troopers Robert Lombardo and Joshua Miller received the Medal of Valor, the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer, during a ceremony with Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

$10M Forensics Center Construction to Begin

Gov. Tom Corbett helped break ground Thursday for a new Cetronia Joint Operations Facility near the Lehigh County Sports Fields in South Whitehall. The 68,000-square-foot facility -- formally known as the Cetronia Ambulance and Lehigh County Joint Operations and Medico-Legal Forensics Center -- will house the Cetronia Ambulance’s fleet, a regional education center, and the Lehigh County coroner's office. The communications center will bear the name of John E. Walson, the former head of Service Electric whose family donated $275,000 towards the project. 

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Suicide by Train Ruled in Teen's Death

Wilson teen Bradley Roth, 19, died after being hit by a Norfolk-Southern Train near Island Park Road along the Lehigh River in Glendon, according to state police at the Belfast barracks. His death was ruled a suicide by the Northampton County Coroner, according to a Lehigh Valley Live report. Roth graduated from Wilson High School and worked at Pizza Hut in Nazareth.

DA: 'Serial Rapist' Attacked 2 Pregnant Teens

David Martinez, the 20-year-old labeled a “serial rapist” by the Northampton County district attorney, was charged Wednesday with committing two more sexual assaults on teenage girls, both who were pregnant at the time of the alleged attacks. On Thursday, he faced a fifth set of charges in yet another case involving a teenage girl that police said he contacted through Facebook.

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Jimmy Fallon Strums Martin Guitar on 'Late Night'

The folks at C.F. Martin & Co. were thrilled to see one of its handmade guitars featured on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." During a show, Fallon pulled out a Martin Guitar and performed a Presidents Day song.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has charged a Forks Township man with conspiring to sell counterfeit auto parts, according to a press release. Richard Dininni was one of three people arrested at their homes Tuesday after unsealed indictments in Manhattan federal court alleged his involvement as an automotive parts supplier in selling counterfeit parts such as brake pads and water pumps.


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