Police & Fire

3 Charged in Kidnapping for Ransom Headed to Trial

Three Levittown residents are charged with holding young woman for $700 ransom in November will face trial in Doylestown.

Levittown residents Shawn Gruber, 21, Nicole Gruber, 20, and David B. Sherman, 21, waived their right to a preliminary hearing this week and are headed to trial. The trio are charged with criminal use of a communication facility, unlawful restraint and several other varying offenses. In late November 2012, Tullytown Borough responded to a call from a Shadetree Lane mother who stated she received a call demanding $700 to be delivered to the women's bathroom at the Taco Bell in Tullytown. If the mother didn’t comply, the voice on the phone said they would “blow her daughter’s head off,” according to court documents. According to police, the incident started when the victim was attempting to buy $700 worth of drugs for the trio at a local …

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Police & Fire

Police Rescue Woman Held Unlawfully After Bad Drug Deal

Police and county authorities arrested three people after they held a young woman for $700 ransom Sunday night in Tullytown.

A scary Sunday evening for a young woman in Tullytown started with a drug deal gone bad. Police responded to a call from a Shadetree Lane mother who stated she received a call just after 5 p.m. demanding $700 to be delivered to the women's bathroom at the Tullytown Taco Bell. If the mother didn’t comply, the voice on the phone said they would “blow her daughter’s head off,” according to court documents. Officers responded to get more details from the mother. From the scene, county detectives were called to perform a wiretap to record further phone conversations between the suspects and the woman, Acting Chief Sgt. Dan Doyle said. More calls from the three suspects were received and authorities listened in and recorded them, the acting …

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Police & Fire

Man Found Dead in Tullytown

Authorities discovered the body on Tuesday and know the cause of death.

A 35-year-old New Jersey man was found dead Tuesday near the train tracks behind Atlantic Concrete Products in Tullytown Borough, officials said. The victim, Pastor R. Peralta Diaz, died of cardiovascular disease. Renal failure was also a contributing factor, Coroner Dr. Joseph Campbell said an autopsy revealed. Campbell said Diaz was a "sick man" and was receiving dialysis three times per a week. Acting Tullyown police chief Sgt. Dan Doyle said the man was discovered near the Amtrak train line between Atlantic Concrete, off Old Bristol Pike, and the Penn Warner Club. The area is known to be crossing point for those on foot, he said. What the man was doing in Tullytown was not immediately known, the acting chief said. Doyle said Bucks …

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Police & Fire

Antique Typewriter Causes Bomb Scare at Walmart

An employee at the store in Levittown confirms that police were called to be sure the object was not harmful.

Portions of the Levittown Town Center parking lot were taped off late Saturday afternoon while a bomb squad investigated an unattended suitcase that was found. After checks by a bomb sniffing dog and an x-ray machine, the suitcase was determined to be holding an antique typewriter and related supplies, Tullytown Acting Police Chief Sgt. Dan Doyle said. The Philadelphia Police Department Bomb Squad was called to the scene to ensure the object was not a threat at around 5 p.m., the sergeant told Patch. Doyle said the suitcase was reported by a person who parked their car and noticed the object unattended. Responding officers cleared the area around the package until the specially trained explosives officers arrived. Tullytown police did not …

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Police & Fire

Reader: Accident at Route 13 & Levittown Parkway

Patch is working to gather more detail on the accident from police.

A mutivehicle crash was reported Thursday morning in the area of Route 13 and the Levittown Parkway in Tullytown. Patch reader Heather Pone said she saw a light-colored vehicle and large truck damaged in the wreck. The truck was flipped and had caught fire. A police car, ambulance from the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad and a tow struck can be seen at the site on the accident, according to a photograph from the scene.  Patch is working to gather more details on the incident.

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Drug Take-Back Day to be Held Saturday

Have unused prescriptions in your medicine cabinet? Bucks County is sponsoring a county-wide drug take-back program on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 43 locations, including several in Levittown.

  When Bucks County teens get hooked on drugs, they don't start with heroin or "bath salts." They're much more likely to start using drugs they can find right in their own homes. "A lot of it starts in the home medicine cabinet. They’re not connecting with a dealer at first," said Bev Haberle, director of The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania. "We've heard all kinds of stories about parties where a bunch of kids bring pills they found in their medicine cabinet and toss them in a bowl, and they reach in and grab a handful and take whatever is in there," she told Patch during a discussion about teen drug use in Central Bucks. "I think people are less concerned about prescription drug abuse than illegal drug abuse. But they should be worried …

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