POLICE: Weekly Police Blotter

CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION LAW VIOLATION:
A former resident of Ellwood City has been sentenced in federal court to a total term of 180 months’ imprisonment followed by 8 years’ supervised release on his conviction of attempted production and production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced this week.

David Bates, age 64, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan. According to information presented to the court, between July 2020 and October 2020, Bates and another individual attempted to and did use, persuade, induce entice and coerce a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of the minor engaged in such conduct. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Castle Police Department conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Bates.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

BURGLARY:
Robert Grim, 38, of Pittsburgh, is charged with Burglary and Criminal Mischief after an incident on September 1st. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 3:29 p.m., police were dispatched to a residential apartment in Wampum Borough and received a report from a resident that her grill was damaged. Another resident had her apartment burglarized and two $50 bills taken from her wallet. The apartment manager showed police surveillance video that showed Grim arriving in a white minivan and later moving a grill to the side of the building and then exiting the apartment through a locked door which he had propped open. According to the complaint when the video was shown to the victim of the burglary, the victim related that Grim was her son.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF:
According to a report, and on September 24th at approximately 7:39 a.m., a 51-year-old female victim reported someone damaged two posted signs on her residential property located on Railroad Avenue, Wayne Township. The value of the damaged signs are reported $7.46

ACCIDENT:
According to an accident report, and on September 22nd at approximately 3:57 p.m., PA State Police were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident in which a Mohawk Area School bus driven by a 79-year-old female backed into Chevy Silverado on Wampum Road when attempting to make a three-point turn from Vance Road East onto Vance Road West, North Beaver Township. Upon arrival to the scene, contact was made with both drivers and all passengers of the bus, all parties reported no injuries.

DUI:
Veronica See, 44, of New Castle, is charged with DUI after a traffic stop on September 22nd. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximatley 6:09 p.m., police were dispatched to a residence on Ellwood Road, Wayne Township for a report of a verbal domestic altercation. Police had learned from an earlier call that See was extremely intoxicated and had left the residence in a a 2017 Kia Sedona and upon returning was throwing things around the house and arguing with her husband. When police arrived and to speak with See she was found intoxicated, rambling, and disheveled the complaint relates. During the interview she admitted she was drunk and apologized for driving earlier. Police asked See to step outside to the residence to perform a field sobriety test for which she agreed to, and later failed. See was arrested for DUI and transported to a nearby hospital for a blood draw.

POSSESSION:
Katlyn Anderson, 24, of Ellwood City, is charged with Marijuana Possession and Disorderly Conduct after an incident on September 29th. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 11:20 p.m., a vehicle was pulled over at a checkpoint on West Lawrence Avenue where police detected a faint odor of marijuana emanating from inside the vehicle where Anderson was the passenger and police also observed an open container of alcohol in the back seat. Anderson retrieved a glass container containing marijuana from the backseat and related that it belonged to her mother and that her mother had a medical marijuana card, however the marijuana was not found to be in the original dispensary packaging. The marijuana and alcohol was seized from the vehicle.

DUI:
Bradley Dorsey, 45, of Koppel, is charged with DUI after an incident on September 29th. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 8:50 p.m., Dorsey entered a checkpoint on West Lawrence Avenue and was asked to exit the vehicle due to his admission of consuming alcoholic beverages. Dorsey was requested to perform a field sobriety test for which he failed. Dorsey was placed under arrest for DUI and transported to a nearby hospital for chemical testing and later released.

DRUG TRAFFICKING:
Ricardo Reeves was sentenced to 120 months in prison for fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine trafficking, and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced this week. Reeves, age 45 of New Castle, was sentenced by United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab. Judge Schwab ordered Reeves to serve four years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Reeves pled guilty earlier this year to (1) possessing with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl and heroin, as well as quantities of cocaine and cocaine base, and (2) possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, all on December 14, 2020. Reeves was initially released on bond following his indictment for these crimes. His bond was thereafter revoked after he got caught trafficking more fentanyl and cocaine while on bond.

The Lawrence County Drug Task Force, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the investigation leading to the convictions in this case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.