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Police and Fire

June 20, 2017

Police Find Crack Cocaine and Sleep Apnea Machine in Vehicle

Police Find Crack Cocaine and Sleep Apnea Machine in Vehicle According to the criminal complaint, on June 14, officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle with an expired registration. Operator of the vehicle, Christopher Patrick Bruno, 61, of Ellwood City, did not hold a valid drivers license and was under driving suspension in Florida and Pennsylvania. Bruno also had an active warrant for his arrest through the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office. Bruno was detained for the warrant, and he advised officers of his sleep apnea machine in his car that he would need for sleeping. Officers opened a bag…

June 19, 2017

Cigarette Causes Garage Fire Sunday Night

A car is destroyed following a garage fire that happened Sunday around 9:30p.m. at an Ellwood residence located on Keystone Way. According to the Ellwood City fire chief, the fire started after the homeowner threw a cigarette on the garage floor, possibly igniting gas residue on the ground. No one was injured.

June 19, 2017

Ellwood City Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Case

Following the case of the Ellwood City man who admitted to stalking Amish children and trying to lure them into an outhouse, he pleaded guilty last week to a separate incident of distributing sadistic child pornography on a peer-to-peer network. Lucas Klobetanz, 40, of Ellwood City, was federally investigated by the FBI for distributing child porn after his computer IP address was traced back to his Ellwood City address. In 2015 he was indicted on counts of distribution and possession of child porn. Klobetanz has been sentenced to serve more than 11 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised…

June 16, 2017

Police Report: 60 Year-Old Man Breaks Ellwood Business’s Front Door with Cane

A local 60-year-old man is expected to pay for damages sustained to a Lawrence Avenue business after he broke the glass with his cane Wednesday afternoon. According to the criminal complaint, an employee at the Ellwood City Ledger contacted police to report damages caused by an older gentleman. The employee stated she was sitting inside the Ledger building when the man came to the door and started knocking after business hours. The man eventually got frustrated and started pounding on the bottom of the door with his cane, breaking the glass. The employee followed the man around the building and…

June 15, 2017

Retired Ellwood City Police Canine Passes Away

Lt. David Kingston-Operations Officer released the following statement: It is with great sadness ECPD reports the passing of Ellwood City Police Canine and McBride family pet “Jozek.” Jozek, a Czech born German Shepard, came to ECPD in March of 2007 and worked as part of the canine team. JOZEK was born in the Czech Republic June 9, 2005 and was purchased by ECPD on March 9, 2007 from Shallow Creek Kennels in Sharpsville, PA. After purchasing Jozek from Shallow Creek Kennels, Jozek trained with his handler for a 12 week period with Master Trainer Pat Maloney of the North American…

June 15, 2017

New Galilee Sex Offender Facing Felony Charges

A “tier 2” registered sex offender who is currently on probation, Micheal Lee Mills, 27, of 578 Patterson Road, New Galilee, is facing over half a dozen felony charges following an incident involving an Illinois teen. According to the criminal complaint, on Friday June 2, the Pennsylvania State Police Megan’s Law Unit received a complain from a parent that a registered sex offender has been contacting their 17 year-old-daughter who lives in Illinois. The reporting parent stated that Mills had sent nude photos of himself to the teen. Mills had been communication with the teen through Google Hangouts – a…

June 14, 2017

Residents Cautioned about Non-Official Third-Party Bill Pay Site

While many Borough of Ellwood City residents should soon be receiving their May utility bills, they are urged to be aware that a third-party website is appearing in search results for “Ellwood City online bill pay”. When any variation of “Ellwood City online bill pay” is typed into a search engine, a clickable link comes up just a few links below the actual Ellwood City Borough online bill pay website, which is currently still suspended for updates. The third party bill pay site URL is www.doxo.com/info/borough-ellwood-city-pa.  While doxo.com is a legitimate third-party bill payment service, similar to online bill payment…

June 13, 2017

Missing Woman’s Body Found in Neshannock Township

According to several sources, a body found in Neshannock Township has been identified as a missing Butler County woman. After being reported missing since Thursday of last week, the body of 26-year-old Melissa “Missy” Barto was found along Old Pulaski Road by a farmer, around 7 p.m. Monday night. The body of the young mother had been burnt, and state police officer Lt. Eric Hermick described the scene as “horrific.” Prior to discovering the body, state police arrested Barto’s 21-year-old boyfriend, Ishemer D. Ramsey, on Sunday with charges of committing homicide after pulling him over in Connoquenessing Township. When police pulled…

June 9, 2017

Criminal Mischief Leaves Several Cars Damaged on Park Ave.

The Ellwood City Police Department warns of criminal mischief complaints they have been receiving lately. Over a half dozen residents on Park Avenue have reported damage to their cars during the night of 6/6 into the early morning hours of 6/7. Cars parked along the avenue, including a 2017 Chevy Traverse, 2015 Ford Escape, 2014 Dodge Journey, 2014 Chevy Cruze, and several others parked along the avenue, were scratched/keyed with a sharp object causing a variation of damages on each car. While some cars only had scratches on the passenger side doors, others were scratched from the front, side, and…

June 8, 2017

New Castle Man Accused of Housing Missing 13-Year-Old

According to the criminal complaint, Travis Wade Betker of New Castle will be facing a felony charge of interfering with custody of children, and misdemeanor charges of corruption of minors, obstructing administration of law or other governmental function, and disorderly conduct, following an incident that happened on May 1, 2017. Betker allowed a 13 year-old female to stay at his residence after he had knowledge that she was reported to the police as a missing person. On April 30 around 7:45a.m., officers took a report of a missing/runaway teen who had left the residence during the night. The reporting parent…