BUTLER — A western Pennsylvania woman has been jailed on charges she bonked two police officers with beer thrown from an upstairs window when they answered a domestic dispute call at her home.
Online court records don't list an attorney for 48-year-old Diane Pusateri, of Butler Township.
Police say Pusateri was arguing with another woman as three police arrived at their home about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh on Sunday night. That's when police say she threw a 30-pack of beer out a second-floor window, hitting two of three responding officers in the head, shoulder, neck and thigh with the cans.
Pusateri remained jailed Wednesday unable to post bail. She faces a preliminary hearing Oct. 4 on charges including aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.
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Trio pleads guilty in human trafficking case
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two Philadelphia men and a woman have pleaded guilty to luring vulnerable victims into a scheme that left them working as virtual slaves, giving up pay and benefit checks under threat of violence.
Michael and Tamara Rhoades pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges including human trafficking for their role in attacks involving two young women the couple brought into their home.
A third defendant, Steven Mills, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, arson and other charges in connection with one of the Rhoades' victims.
Prosecutor Joe McGlynn tells KYW-AM the trio burned one 20-year-old victim, poured bleach on her face and set her on fire.
Sentencing is expected in November.
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Reactor operator at nuclear plant flunked alcohol test
LIMERICK — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a reactor operator at a suburban Philadelphia nuclear power plant has been removed from duty after being found under the influence of alcohol.
Officials say the reactor operator at Limerick Generating Station lost his operator license after alcohol was detected in his urine during a random screening in July.
A spokesman for the NRC says the man was never alone in the control room and all his activities from that day were properly reviewed. Neil Sheehan says a violation has been placed in the man's file and he will have to provide a written response if he ever applies for a license again.
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Turnpike worker's drunk firing suit rejected
PITTSBURGH — A federal judge in Pittsburgh has rejected the disability discrimination lawsuit filed by a Pennsylvania Turnpike worker who was fired two years ago when he missed work to seek alcohol treatment.
The turnpike commission argued the judge should dismiss Mark Schmidt's lawsuit, in which he claimed turnpike officials used his work absence as a pretext to fire him instead of accommodating his disability — alcoholism.
But U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon noted that Schmidt, of Mars, had gone through alcohol treatment seven times before, including several times on paid leave. She says the turnpike commission had no obligation to accommodate his unannounced decision to enter treatment without taking leave.
The judge's opinion says "there comes a point where demanding an employer to offer multiple, if not unlimited, opportunities for recovery veers outside the realm of reasonableness."
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Police: Woman talked man out of robbery
CANONSBURG — Police say a woman talked an armed man out of robbing the western Pennsylvania restaurant where she worked by discussing her faith.
Mary Moss says she would normally be at church but was filling in for a co-worker when the man entered the Subway restaurant in Canonsburg on Sunday morning demanding money.
Moss says she asked the robber why he was doing it and he said he had a debt. Moss says she told him that the man's only debt was to God.
After a few minutes Moss says she gave the man a soda and asked him to leave.
Twenty-year-old Mario Pellegrini was arrested a short time later with a pellet gun. He's jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail. It's not immediately clear if Pellegrini has an attorney.
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Boy, 10, apologizes for attack on immigrant
PHILADELPHIA — A 10-year-old boy says he beat and robbed a Vietnamese immigrant inside her Philadelphia home because he didn't like the way she looked at him.
The boy made an apology Tuesday during a Family Court hearing. Fifty-year-old victim Minh Tran accepted the apology through an interpreter.
Police say the boy, his 7-year-old brother and a third assailant entered Tran's home on Aug. 6 and attacked her with rocks and sticks. The boy told Family Court Administrative Judge Kevin Dougherty he attacked Tran because he didn't like her.
The Philadelphia Daily News reports disposition of the case was pushed back to Oct. 5. The boy could end up in juvenile detention or be put on probation.
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Crosswalk vigilante beats Pittsburgh to the punch
PITTSBURGH — A crosswalk vigilante has beaten Pittsburgh road crews to the punch — and to the paint — by marking crosswalks at what residents say is a dangerous intersection for pedestrians in the city's Polish Hill neighborhood.
The lines were painted about three weeks ago and have drawn rave reviews from residents. One posted this message on a bulletin board at a nearby park: "Dear crosswalk vigilantes: Thank you!. You made my day."
City officials, however, aren't thrilled with the temporary solution.
Public Works director Rob Kaczorowski says crews were planning to install larger stop signs paint a crosswalk in a few weeks. The city had previously twice denied requests for crosswalks.
Kaczorowski says whoever painted the crosswalks should have waited because they "would be part of the liability if there's an accident there."
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