POLICE REPORTS
These items have been collected from various police departments.
2:35 a.m. Sunday — Samantha Lee Smith, 24, was arrested after she allegedly assaulted her boyfriend, 30-year-old Michael E. Knecht, during a domestic dispute at their apartment in the 300 block of North Cliff Street. Knecht told police that Smith punched him in the face several times. Officers reported that he was bleeding on the right side of the face near the eye.Smith was taken to the police station. A search of her purse turned up a small baggie of suspected marijuana. She is charged with simple assault and possession of a small amount of marijuana.12:30 p.m. Saturday — Thomas E. Saeler, 38, of Oakland Township faces drug charges after police found him allegedly intoxicated outside a car in the 100 block of West Brady Street. Police reportedly noticed an empty Fentanyl patch package on the driver's seat. Saeler admitted he did not have a prescription for the painkiller.Officers searched him and found suspected drug contraband and a pill container. In the container there were three tablets of alprazolam and six tablets of clonazepam, both anti-anxiety drugs, and a Suboxone strip, commonly used to treat heroin addiction.Police said Saeler did not have prescriptions for those drugs either.The suspect is charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, and public drunkenness.4 p.m. Friday — A Butler boy was hurt when a pickup truck struck the scooter he was riding on Center Avenue at Zeigler Avenue. Scott J. Caccao, 11, suffered minor injuries when he was hit attempting to cross Center Avenue.The driver, Michael A. Cajka, 64, of Butler Township, told police that he stopped at the intersection and when he turned, the scooter crossed into his path and he was unable to avoid the accident. No charges were filed.Tuesday — A safe containing $500 in currency was stolen in a burglary between 8:30 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. at a home in the 100 block of Standard Avenue. The suspect apparently broke a back window to get inside.
7:31 p.m. Sunday — Paula L. Speicher, 39, of Slippery Rock was seriously injured when she crashed her all-terrain vehicle in Clay Township. Police suspect Speicher was driving under the influence when she wrecked the ATV at Keister and Beaver Dam roads. A medical helicopter flew her to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh with a “major injury.”5:56 p.m. Sunday — A Lawrence County man was hurt when he lost control of his motorcycle on loose gravel and dropped the bike, which slid into a traffic sign and traveled up a small embankment along the Route 19 on-ramp near Route 422 in Muddy Creek Township. Alan S. Valentic, 51, of New Castle, who was not wearing a helmet, was taken to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh with unknown injuries.12:42 p.m. Sunday — A car driven by Lisa A. Kaplan, 21, of Rochester, N.Y., crashed into a guardrail on Interstate 79 in Lancaster Township. She was cited for driving at an unsafe speed.Saturday — A greenhouse table and four yellow extension cords were stolen in a burglary at the Country Garden Center on Glade Mill Road in Clinton Township. The break-in happened between 5:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday.Saturday — A maroon, 10-speed mountain bike and a black wall mount bracket for a television were taken during a yard sale at a home in the 200 block of Driftwood Drive in Jefferson Township. The theft happened between 8 and 11:30 p.m.Saturday — A thief stole a lawn decoration and spotlight from the front yard of a home on Prospect Road in Connoquenessing Township. The theft happened between 2 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday.3:30 p.m. Friday — Aaron F. Blystone, 23, of Butler was arrested after allegedly assaulting two teenage girls at a home on Freeport Road in Summit Township. Blystone is accused of pushing a 17-year-old Butler girl against a wall and pushing 18-year-old Lisa M. Philbrook of Butler to the ground.The 17-year-old, who police did not identify, and Philbrook suffered unspecified injuries.Before leaving, Blystone rammed his vehicle into Philbrook's vehicle.Blystone was arraigned on two counts each of simple assault and harassment, and a charge of criminal mischief, and he was placed in the Butler County Prison on $7,500 bail.3 p.m. Friday — Jeremy J. Rivera, 23, of Butler faces felony charges for allegedly stealing a ring from a home on Mercer Road in Center Township. Rivera is accused of selling the ring at a gold store for $237, a fraction of its value. He is charged with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property as well as theft by deception.12:28 p.m. Thursday — Tiffany M. Schramm, 34, of Butler was hurt when the car she was driving struck a utility pole before hitting a ditch and culvert pipe along Unionville Road just southwest of Election House Road in Franklin Township. Schramm, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. She was cited for careless driving.
Thursday — A burglar broke into the Toby Township shed and stole tools and gasoline. Anyone with information about the break-in is asked to call police at 814-226-1710.
7:03 a.m. Sunday — Two people were hurt, one seriously, when a car driven by Eric R. Traister, 26, of Templeton crashed into a guardrail at West Broad and North streets in South Bethlehem. Carma S. Songer, 40, of New Bethlehem, a passenger in the car, was taken by medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh with major head injuries.Traister, who suffered minor injuries but refused medical treatment, was cited for improperly braking. Neither Traister nor Songer was wearing a seat belt.1:52 a.m. Sunday — Andrea D. Poorman, 29, of Manorville was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence on Route 68 about three-tenths of a mile south of Houston Road in Manor Township. Poorman also was cited for driving with a suspended license.9 p.m. Saturday — David E. McCullough, 61, of Karns City was arrested for suspicion of DUI after his sport utility vehicle crashed through a wire fence and hit a utility pole along Reessdale Road just south of Adrian Sherrett Road in Washington Township.8:50 p.m. Thursday — A sport utility vehicle driven by Ruth P. Bowser, 53, of Sarver struck a deer head-on on Route 28 in Tarentum, Allegheny County.Thursday — A vehicle struck speed display and arrow signs on Route 422 near Mushroom Farm Road in West Franklin Township. The unknown driver of the eastbound gold Hyundai did not stop after crossing over the westbound lanes and hitting the signs, owned by the Mekis Construction Corp. of Fenelton.The crash happened between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6:30 a.m. Thursday.4:45 a.m. Wednesday — Joseph D. Copeland, 23, of Brackenridge, Allegheny County, was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance after his car struck an unoccupied SUV parked on High Street just east of Fifth Street in Freeport.
