police reports

ENDANGERMENT OF A CHILD: Katie Defonde, 39, of Ellwood City, is charged with endangerment of a child after an incident on March 14th. According to a criminal complaint and at approximately 4:22p.m. police were dispatched to Orchard Avenue due to a report of a child found unattended in the street. When police made contact with the caller, he stated that he and his wife had found the approximately one-year-old alone and unsupervised in the street. Navolio also made reference to where he thought the child’s residence was located. When officers arrived at the location and made contact with Defonde, she…

DISORDERLY CONDUCT: David Carter, 45, of Ellwood City, is charged with Disorderly Conduct and Public Drunkenness after an incident on February 21st. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 4:01 p.m., police were dispatched to the intersection of Spring Avenue and 5th Street for an intoxicated male who had a beer in his hands yelling at kids and at vehicles. Police later located Carter at the front door of his residence. Carter is known by local police and have had many dealings with him for similar misconduct according to the complaint. When police located Carter at the front door…

HARASS PHYSICAL CONTACT: Brandon Falen, 50, of Ellwood City, is charged with physical harassment after an incident occurring on January 20th at a residence on Laurel Avenue in Wayne Township. According to a police report, and at approximately 7:34 p.m., police were dispatched to an active domestic involving Falen and his 24-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son. According to the report, Falen had struck his daughter and son with a broom and a hammer which caused minor injuries. Falen was placed under arrest and taken to a nearby hospital for a mental health assessment due to him formally stating he wanted…

SIMPLE ASSAULT: Michael Fabich, 57, of Wampum is charged with Simple Assault after an incident occurring on January 2nd. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 8:56 p.m., police were dispatched to the Fabich residence on Eliza Street and when they made contact with the victim, Fabich’s wife, she explained that Michael Fabich was woken up by his father and Michael got angry taking it out on her. Police asked Mrs. Fabich if she would like to pursue any actions, or put a PFA on Fabich, but she denied any action the report relates. SIMPLE ASSAULT: Jarid Smith, 42,…

CRASH: On December 23rd at approximately 5:48p.m. a crash occurred on Ellwood Road. Unit 3 slowed down to pull into their driveway on Ellwood Road and Unit 2 slowed to wait for Unit 3, but was rear-ended by Unit 1, which caused Unit 2 rear-end Unit 3. Unit 1 and 2 sustained severe damage and were unable to be driven from the scene and had to be towed. Operator’s 2 and 3 sustained injuries and were transported via EMS to a nearby hospital. CRASH: On December 22nd at approximately 9:14a.m. a crash occurred on Glenkirk Rd, New Beaver Borough. Unit…

PUBLIC REPRIMAND: An Ellwood City nail salon was fined and given a public reprimand by the Pennsylvania Department of State for what it called grossly incompetent actions. Nails Spa, located in the Northern Star shopping plaza on Route 288 in Franklin Township, was given a $6,600 civil penalty and ordered to stop possessing methyl methacrylate (MMA) and metal credo tools. MMA is a resin commonly used in artificial nail products, dentistry and the production of plastics. Credo tools are used to remove callused skin. The violations were cited in the agency’s latest disciplinary actions. An investigation also said the salon…

THEFT: Tyler Good, 24, of Cranberry Twp is charged with Theft after an incident occurring during the dates of 5/23/24 and 6/30/24. According to a criminal complaint, police spoke to the victim on September 19th at approximately 12:37 p.m. and the victim explained that he contracted Good to replace his retaining wall and that they had come to an agreement to have the wall finished within five days. The victim paid Good $9,400 for materials to begin the job on May 23rd and an additional $3,600 on June 5th after Good would finish. Good had failed to complete the job…

PUBLIC INTOXICATION: Blake Zeigler, 21, of Ellwood City is charged with public intoxication after an incident on September 25th. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 12:46p.m., police were dispatched to 7-11 and advised that a male was loitering outside asking customers to purchase him tobacco in exchange for cocaine. Officers were aware of this incident. Police then located Zeigler, who was riding a bike, and advised him of the complaint to which Zeigler denied. Police then noticed a smell of alcohol emitting from Zeigler and asked him step off the bike. Zeigler refused and reached for his pocket….

ASSAULT: Lawrence Morini, 22, of Wampum, is charged with Simple Assault after an incident occurring on September 28th. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 10:58 p.m. ECPD Officers were dispatched to a nearby bar for reports of an assault that occurred. When police arrived, ECFD was conducting CPR on the victim and witnesses explained the situation to officers. The owner of the bar was contacted and showed ECPD Police video footage of the incident. According to the complaint the victim had been causing problems at the bar and was asked to leave. When the victim was leaving he…

THEFT: Paula Schwartz, 39, of Ellwood City, is charged with Theft after an incident reported on September 18th. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 3:00 p.m., the owner of Uni-Mart reported a theft that occurred at his business and advised police that his employee, Schwartz, stole money out of the cash drawer and five cartons of cigarettes overnight. Police reviewed surveillance and paperwork from the store that cooperated with the owners report.  Police contact Schwartz at her residence and spoke with Schwartz who related she was dealing with a mental health episode and later admitted to the theft….