7 Held Hostage in $80K Extortion Plot, Police Say

Four adults and three children held overnight in Bristol apartment, according to reports.

Three men were arrested Monday after allegedly holding seven people hostage for $80,000 ransom, according to reports on Action News and PhillyBurbs. Bristol Township Police arrested Orlando McNeil, 38, Daesean Smith, 21 and Dennis Redding, 18, for allegedly holding four adults and three children hostage, according to Action News. Police said the men planned to lure a man to a nearby apartment complex to rob him, but the man refused to leave his apartment, PhillyBurbs reported. The victim recently received a cash life insurance award after his mother died, according to Action News. Police said McNeil waited outside in a black SUV while Smith and Redding, who were armed, allegedly broke into the victim's Levittown Trace Apartment on Sunday …

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Police & Fire Blotter

11 Charges Dropped in Kidnapping Case

At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, police dropped a majority of the charges against Anthony Povia, 27, of Hamilton, N.J.

Prosecutors dropped 11 of 14 charges against Anthony Povia, 27, of Hamilton, N.J. Wednesday at a preliminary hearing, according to court records. The 27-year-old is set to face trial in Doylestown on the remaining charges of kidnap to facilitate a felony, robbery and criminal attempt. In Janurary, Povia got into a woman's car at at a fruit shop in the Morrisville section of Falls Township and pulled a large kitchen knife and stated, “ I want the money. Don’t make me hurt you.” He then forced the victim to drive to an ATM on West Trenton Avenue to withdraw money. When she had trouble withdrawing cash, Povia then demanded the victim use her cell phone to call people and to get money, police said. According to court records, the victim told …

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Police & Fire Blotter

Man Kidnaps Woman at Knifepoint in Falls

A 27-year-old New Jersey man was arrested after he held a woman at knifepoint Sunday afternoon in the Morrisville section of Falls Township.

A man with a “scruffy” beard is alleged to have kidnapped a woman Sunday afternoon at knifepoint afternoon in the Morrisville section of Falls Township, police said. The incident all started outside the Centre Fruit Gourmet at 364 West Trenton Road and ended with the suspect being arrested at the TD Bank just down the street. According to an affidavit of probable cause, Anthony Povia, 27, of Hamilton, N.J., got into the victim's car at at the fruit shop and pulled a large kitchen knife and asked, “ I want the money. Don’t make me hurt you.” Povia then forced the victim to drive to an ATM to withdraw money. The victim drove to the Wells Fargo on West Trenton Avenue, where she had trouble withdrawing cash. The 27-year-old man then demanded …

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Police & Fire Blotter

After Two Years, Diane Corado's Body Still Missing

It's been two years since Diane Corado was violently abducted from her Levittown residence. Her body has never been found and her ex-boyfriend stands accused of her murder.

The search for the body of Falls Township resident Diane Corado has involved federal, state and local law enforcement officials - and yet, two years later, nothing. Falls police Lieutenant Hank Ward said recently by phone that investigators have “exhausted everything” in the search for the woman who is alleged to have been murder on December 16, 2010 by her former convict ex-boyfriend Kenneth Lamon Patterson, 50. Despite the lack of a body, Corado was legally declared dead in 2011. The county district attorney’s office is set to prosecute Patterson for the murder of Corado - body or no body. Sunday, December 16, 2010 At the Village of Pennbrook apartment complex, the air was crisp and the overcast sky was not yet illuminated by the sun, …

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Sue F.

12:14 pm on Monday, May 13, 2013

Just wonder are you a family member of his????   more ›

Saanvi Venna's Body Found

The 10-month-old had been missing since Monday. A family friend has been charged in the murders of the child and her grandmother, who reportedly attacked the would-be kidnapper as he tried to take her granddaughter.

The body of Saanvi Venna, the 10-month-old girl who disappeared from the Marquis Apartments in King of Prussia on Monday following the murder of her grandmother, was found at about 4:30 a.m. Friday in a sauna room inside the apartment complex, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said. Raghunandan Yandamuri, 26, described by Ferman as a friend of the Venna family, has been charged in the murders of Saanvi and Satyavathi Venna. Ferman said Yandamuri told authorities that he intended to kidnap the child and hold her for $50,000 ransom. See this article's photo section to see a copy of the ransom note. "He believed the family was of sufficient means to pay that ransom," Ferman said. As he was leaving the scene of the elder Venna's …

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John

11:01 am on Thursday, November 1, 2012

"Wonder why he wanted 50 K so badly" The guy was an gambling addict. Filed bankcruptcy in 09. Lost $50K in gambling within a year of time. Was married recently to his long time girlfriend who is by the way pregnant now. Had a decent job. i guess he wanted to get the big bucks within a small amount of time to clear his debt. What an Ahole.   more ›

Amber Alert Ends: Abducted Toddler Found Safe

Police say armed men abducted 2-year-old Tymire Dior Smith from Montgomery County after assaulting his father.

Last updated 10:55 a.m. Wednesday The toddler that Pennsylvania State Police issued an Amber Alert about early Wednesday morning has been found safe, reports NBC10. Two-year-old Tymire Dior Smith had been abducted from an Upper Dublin Township home in Montgomery County by three armed men who stole a new, dark-colored Chrysler 300 with a partial Pennsylvania license plate of HYJ68. NBC10 reported that friends of the family said the kidnappers called the family a short time later, demanding ransom money. Metro Philadelphia reported that Tymire was found by a Philadelphia police officer on a sidewalk at the intersection of North 66th Street and Malvern Avenue about six hours after the abduction was reported. He was taken to the Children's …

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