East Catholic School Parent Receives Threatening Message

A parent of a student at East Catholic School (formerly St. Maurice) in Forest Hills received a threatening text message or email Dec. 18 that referenced the shootings last week at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.

Jackie Fazio, assistant principal, called Forest Hills police after the parent received a note that read: "Enjoy the next few days with your family for it will be your last. I will kill your kids like the boy did at that school. The time is hear."

Police discovered that the parent who received the message is married to someone who works in the mental health field. Police are investigating the possibility that the person behind the message might be a patient or former employee of the parent's spouse.

Dec. 19

• A resident of the 4100 block of Greensburg Pike reported that an unknown vehicle had driven into her front yard and damaged the grass, then struck her decorative light pole. An officer noted tire tracks to the pole, which was severely dented. The impact caused the glass surrounding the bulbs to shatter. 

• During a routine stop at the Spee-D-Mart convenience store on Ardmore Boulevard, an officer was told by a sales clerk that a customer had just left the premises after passing what he believed to be a counterfeit $1 bill. The suspect is described as about 35 years old and is not a regular customer. Police said the bill appeared to be two pieces of paper glued together. The Secret Service was informed of the incident.

Dec. 18

• A woman reported to police that she had struck a 6-foot concrete parking barrier with her car and had dragged it into the middle of the park-and-ride lot on Avenue B. A public works crew was able to move the barrier to the side of the lot.

• An Overdale Road resident reported finding two dogs—a pit bull and a terrier. He told police he would keep them for awhile and try to locate the owner as they might be from the area.

• A resident of Castlegate Road reported to police she had received a call on Dec. 2 from Transunion, a credit check company, saying that someone from Apple Credit Finance had made an inquiry. On Dec. 17, she got a phone call from Capital One saying that Apple Credit had made another inquiry about her credit. On the same day, she received a credit card from Amazon, though she'd never applied for it. The credit card had two different addresses on it. Police advised her on what action to take.

• Two Cedar Avenue residents reported that a silver-colored Toyota Corolla allegedly speeds on the street while the driver visits his mother on Lee Avenue. Police had previously asked the mother to speak to the son about the matter. The mother told police that her son and one of the callers had exchanged words over the caller's dog. The officer told the mother that if police received more complaints, the officer would issue a traffic citation based on the multiple complaints received.

Dec. 17

• Officers responded to a hit-and-run accident at the intersection of Rockwood and Demmer avenues. The owner of the car told police his parked car had been hit while he was visiting a friend. Police observed damage to the bumper and trunk area. The owner told police a large blue-colored box truck had been parked near the rear of the vehicle earlier in the evening. Police noticed blue paint on the bumper of the victim's vehicle.

Dec. 16

• Police received a report of a vehicle on Castlegate Drive that had all four tires slashed. The owner told police the incident had happened in the city and that he'd had the vehicle towed home. The owner requested permission to park the vehicle in the street overnight.

• Police responded to a two-vehicle accident in the fast lane of the 2400 block of Ardmore Boulevard. The driver of the first car was driving the wrong way in the westbound lanes on Ardmore. While talking to the man, the officer observed that he had glazed and bloodshot eyes, and the smell of an alcoholic beverage on him. The man also failed field sobriety tests. 

Dec. 15

• Forest Hills police were advised by Braddock Hills officers that they were stopped in the Braddock Hills Shopping Center by someone who reported a fight taking place in the Rite Aid parking lot on Yost Boulevard. Upon arrival, Forest Hills officers discovered that the argument was over a child custody exchange. 

• A resident of Ardmore Boulevard called police to report that her grandson, 24, who has mental health issues, has been missing since Dec. 5. Police entered his name into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System so they would be alerted in case he was found.

• The manager of Rite Aid on Yost Boulevard called police to report that he had caught two men around the back of the store attempting to take pallets off the loading dock. The manager said he asked them to stop and they put back seven pallets. The suspects are described as a white male in his 30s with brown hair, a brown beard, and wearing a tassled cap, dirty white hoodie and blue jeans; and a heavy-set black male, clean shaven, and about 5 feet, 7 inches tall.

Dec. 14

• Police responded to a 911 alert that an ambulance had been dispatched to a Marwood Avenue residence for a report of a female shot in the chest. Police found the phone number used to place the report and the resident at that address reported that it came from her son's cell phone. She said she had urged her son to seek mental health treatment. An officer confirmed with Forbes Regional Hospital that the son had been brought in for a minor medical problem and was discharged, but then became belligerant and was escorted off the property. The call was deemed a false report. 

• A resident of Sumner Avenue came to the police station to file a harassment report against a former employee who had been fired from a business he is part owner of in Murrysville. The resident told police that since the employee was fired, he had been making threats to kill a number of employees, including him. Police advised the resident to have other employees contact police in their hometowns to file a similar report. The officer also planned to contact the former employee and advise him to cease the harassment or charges would be filed against him.

Dec. 13

• A woman inside Taco Bell on Ardmore Boulevard told police that a man began to follow her as she walked down Yost Boulevard. He began to yell at her to stop, but she quickened her pace. She told police he followed her into Rite Aid and began to pat her buttocks. A Rite Aid employee intervened, asked the man to leave and offered to call police. The man left the store up Yost Boulevard and the woman proceeded to the Taco Bell, where she called police from a restroom. The suspect is described as a black male in his early 20s; 5 feet, 5 inches tall; with dark skin and bulging eyes. He was wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans.

• Office personnel at Forest Hills Transfer and Storage flagged down police to report that a tractor trailer had entered the firm's parking lot, stayed there for a brief period of time, then pulled out, striking a decorative street light belonging to the borough. According to police, the lamp pole was totally destroyed and lying partially on the sidewalk or street. The light pole had snapped in half. The lighting assembly was cracked in many places and electrical wires were exposed. The company that owns the truck, Plycar, offered to pay for replacement of the lamp in lieu of charges being filed against the driver, who claimed he did not know he struck the lamp.

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