Category Archives: Police & Fire

An Ellwood City woman is in custody this morning after crashing into a utility pole when she fled from police.

Christian Winterbottom, 26, of Ellwood City, fled police at 1:06 a.m. Friday

Christian Winterbottom, 26, of Franklin Avenue, was stopped by police just after 1 a.m. Friday along Line Avenue near North Street.

Because there were outstanding warrants for her arrest, Winterbottom attempted to give police false identification. After several minutes of her providing false information to no avail, she put the car into gear and took off, police said.

Police said the chase only lasted about a minute. Winterbottom crashed her Chrysler minivan into a telephone pole near Deemers Bend Lane on Woodside Avenue in Ellwood City. The telephone pole was knocked over onto a residence at 1005 Woodside Avenue.

Winterbottom was transported to the Ellwood City Hospital for a broken ankle and an injury to her right forearm. No one else was injured in the incident.

The accused had outstanding warrants for retail theft from February 2012 and filing a false report from July 2010.

In addition to her warrants, Winterbottom will be charged with attempting to allude police, flight to avoid apprehension, providing false identification, reckless driving, and driving without a license.

Over $800 worth of electronics were stolen from a home on Wampum Avenue in Ellwood City on Saturday, according to police.

Ellwood City Police received a call just after 11 p.m. Saturday from a resident who said their home had been burglarized sometime that day. The victim said that the suspects most likely entered through the front door, which had been broken and not properly fixed yet.

Taken from the home was a Toshiba laptop computer valued at $499, two Sony PlayStation portable devices valued at $129 each, and a 2^nd Gen. iPod and 3^rd Gen. iPod valued at $90 each.

Police are continuing to investigate the burglary.

Police arrested a man Monday after authorities say he beat his 4-year-old daughter with a coat hanger as a form of discipline after she urinated in her pants.

Rodderrick Richards, 23, of 817 South Street, Ellwood City, is facing several charges, including endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault, simple assault, and drug possession.

Ellwood City police said Richards’ mother was the one who called authorities after she was not allowed to see her granddaughter for some time because of “disciplinary issues.”

When officers went to Richards’ residence, they said the child suffered welts and bruises in the beating. Officers also found drugs inside the home, including cocaine and painkiller Oxycodone pills.

According to the report, Richards told police he disciplined his daughter because she urinated in her pants, and when asked if he used a coat hanger, Richards then asked for an attorney.

Richards was taken to the Beaver County Jail on $15,000 bond. The child is currently in the custody of her grandmother.

Police said Beaver County Children and Youth Services will soon decide whether the girl will be put back in her father’s custody.

An Ellwood City man was arrested on Friday for a November 2011 incident in which he shot two deer, killing one and wounding another, at a deer breading farm in Wayne Township.

Thomas Braunbeck, 22, of Ellwood City, is charged with wounding one deer with a crossbow and killing a second one on Nov. 30 at the Broken H Deer Farm.  Braunbeck is also charged with stealing the deer he shot and killed.

According to the reports, Braunbeck cut through a fence at the deer farm and attempted to kill several deer on the property.  He killed one white tail buck and wounded another.

Police were able to close the investigation that started in November because they allege Braunbeck and two friends confronted a witness in January and threatened to assault and intimidate him.

The other two men, Jeremy McChesney, 24, of Ellwood City and Joshua McChesney, 26, of West Pittsburg, are accused of confronting the witness on Jan. 30.  All three men are charged with intimidation and retaliation against a witness and harassment.

Along with the above charges, Braunbeck is also charged with Agricultural Vandalism, Criminal Mischief, Theft by Unlawful Taking, and other related crimes.

Reports say that the buck that was shot and wounded is valued at $25,000, and the buck that was killed was valued at $14,000.

Preliminary hearings for the men will be held at Lawrence County Central Court.

Police have arrested a man from North Beaver Township who allegedly created a phony advertisement using his ex-wife’s contact information for sex items, adult parties, and other sexual-related acts.

Charges were filed on Tuesday against Michael DeMatteo, 39, of Vance Road in New Castle (New Beaver Township) for Unlawful Use of a Computer, Criminal Use of Communication Facility, Harassment and Stalking, and Disorderly Conduct.

According to Shenango Township Police, a woman contacted police back in May of 2011 after she was receiving harassing telephone calls on her cell phone day and night.  She told police the phone calls were asking about sex toys and sex acts, and they were also making threats towards her and her family.

Michael DeMatteo of New Beaver Township arrested for putting phony sex ad online involving his ex-wife (Photo courtesy of Shenango Township Police)

Police began an investigation and, using the Internet to search for the victim, found an advertisement through Superpages.com that gave the victim’s name, address, and cellular phone number.

During the investigation, police were able to obtain a search warrant for Superpages.com and found that the advertisement was created from a business in Ohio.  And, it just so happened that the victim’s ex-husband is employed at the Ohio business.

Police arrested DeMatteo at his residence and he was arraigned before District Judge David Rishel.  The accused was placed in the Lawrence County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

Firefighters were in North Beaver Township on Sunday for a house fire when a man confronted the crews with a shotgun.

According to officials, Ronald Covert, 53, of Ohio, who was the homeowner’s ex-boyfriend, was holding a shotgun and kept emergency crews from fighting the fire. Investigators said when state police arrived, Covert shot and killed himself.

State police said that the township’s fire department was called to the house fire shortly after 2 p.m. along New Road in North Beaver Township.

Officials said there was no one else at the residence when the fire began.  The fire marshal is now investigating the cause of the blaze.

A 55-year-old man was killed in a motorcycle accident early Friday morning along Route 65 in Wayne Township.

Police say the victim was unable to handle a curve in the road, lost control and hit the guard rail near Panella Way in Wayne Township just after 3 a.m. Friday.  The man was thrown almost 200 feet from the bike.

The victim was identified as Randall Lee Hall, 55, of Fombell. Police are continuing to investigate the accident.

The accident happened very close to the Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Department on “Mile Hill,” a stretch of road where motorcycle accidents have occurred in the past.

In September 2010, a 19-year-old girl was killed in a motorcycle accident along the same road.  She was the passenger, and both she and the driver were thrown from the bike.