Defense lawyers argue against death penalty in alleged toddler murder

BLOOMSBURG — The lawyers for a man accused of beating a toddler to death in Berwick in 2017 argued he shouldn’t face the death penalty if convicted because at age 19, he wasn’t mature enough to understand his actions.

Michael Crimi, now 21, scored slightly lower than normal on psychological testing done in the aftermath of the death of Isabella  Brown, 3. 

And the defense asserted that he showed his lack of maturity when he called his mother in Florida when Isabella became unresponsive on Nov. 25, 2017, rather than calling 9-1-1 or seeking help.

Fire burns quickly through trailer near Millville

GREENWOOD TWP. — A fire ripped through a trailer here, leaving nearly everything inside unsalvagable — except for a memento of a late family member, one of its residents said.

Anthony Traver had been asleep when the blaze began in the bedroom of 46 Oriole Road around 10:15 a.m., he said. The fire filled the room with smoke and made it hard to breathe.

He had been the only one home. His son Jackson had been at his sister’s house; Traver’s girlfriend, Jess Mowery, and his cousin, Zack Minnich, had also been away from the home.

Family homeless after early morning fire

SALEM TWP. — A young couple and their 5-year-old daughter are homeless after a fire destroyed their four-story home early Wednesday morning.

Owners Amanda Bower and Dell Howell, along with their daughter and three dogs, managed to escape the 1:30 a.m. blaze at 807 Mingle Inn Road safely, according to Salem Township Fire Chief Lee Smith. But the home’s remote location, at the end of a narrow, dirt driveway a quarter mile long, made it difficult for firefighters to get equipment and water in to battle the flames, Smith said. 

Police seek public's help in solving burglary

SOUTH CENTRE TWP. — Police here are seeking the public’s help in tracking down a burglar who stole about $595 from a convenience store’s coin gambling machines.

The theft took place at 3:11 a.m. Sunday.

Surveillance cameras caught the thief, wearing jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt, his face hidden by what appears to be a black bandanna, as he threw a cinder block through the glass door of the Your Choice gas station at 6307 Columbia Blvd.

Then he smashed the glass on the two machines to steal the money before fleeing on foot through the Motel 6 parking lot.

Tractor trailer rollover closes I-80

VALLEY TWP. — A tractor trailer jack-knifed on westbound Interstate 80 here, rolling onto its side and blocking both lanes for hours.

Meanwhile, numerous small accidents plagued the area during the sleet and snow that fell Saturday, but none involved serious injuries, said county emergency dispatchers.

The tractor trailer accident happened around 2:30 p.m. between the Danville and Buckhorn exits.

SUV plunges into pond after driver avoids deer, cops say

RUSH TWP. — A Sunbury woman crawled out the window of her SUV after it plunged into the murky water of a pond off Sunbury Road here late Tuesday night, State Police said.

Kimberly Rieger, 34, told a state trooper that she swerved off the road to avoid a deer. Her 2016 GMC Terrain then rolled down an embankment and into the edge of the pond just before midnight.

Rieger rolled down her driver’s side window and escaped out of the vehicle as it drifted further into the water. It ended up in the middle of the pond with water up to its roof line.

Fire rips through rural Rohrsburg house

GREENWOOD TWP. — A family of five lost their home and most of their possessions after a fire tore through their small, one-story house north of Rohrsburg on Monday morning.

Evelyn Janney, 68, was the only one home when the fire started around 9:45, according to her daughter, Claudette Adams. 

Adams and her husband, Mike, also live at 2559 Rohrsburg Road with Claudette’s youngest daughters, ages 14 and 12.

New ride headed to Knoebels

ELYSBURG — Knoebels will unveil a new ride for 2020 that will allow passengers to use their own muscle to help power cars. 

The 32-passenger ride, Tornado, is expected to be up and running for the park’s April 25 opening day, according to park spokesperson Stacy Ososkie. 

Tornado will be located near the StratosFEAR drop tower ride and Kreeper’s Pumpkin Patch game.

Cops: Troopers slashed while making arrest

COOPER TWP. — Two State Troopers were slashed by a knife Tuesday night in a struggle with a man who had told his relatives he wanted to commit “suicide by cop,” police say.

Troopers were first called to 301 Pepper Hills Drive, a trailer in a court east of Danville, around 7 p.m. after a report of a man throwing knives at his sister, police said. 

When they arrived at the home around 7:15 p.m., they found Michael Warren Hartzell, 24, in the kitchen with a knife to his throat and another in his belt, which he grabbed.

Woman dead after crash

JACKSON TWP. — A woman died when a car she was riding in went off Green Creek Road on Tuesday morning and hit three trees, police say.

A man had been driving with the woman in the passenger seat on the road toward Waller when his car swerved and dropped down an embankment at around 11 a.m., said State Trooper Ryan Golla.

The car then hit a tree, spun and wedged between two more trees while facing backward, Golla said.

The impact folded the driver’s side door over the man’s legs and crushed down the black BMW sedan’s roof.

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