Local Grinch Messes with Christmas Lights in Forest Hills

Maybe the Grinch left Whoville and is residing in Forest Hills this holiday season.

On Dec. 1, a resident of the 500 block of Braddock Road reported to Forest Hills police that someone had knocked over and unplugged some of his decorations. A pumpkin that was in the yard was thrown into the road.

According to a police report, a resident of a neighboring house also reported that someone took Christmas decorations from his yard as well as a pink flamingo. The owner found the light in the next yard but the flamingo is still missing.

"It's not a very seasonal attitude to have," said police Chief Chuck Williams, who noted the incidents appear to happen at night.

In other police news from the last week:

Dec. 5

• Police received a report of a man screaming for help in the 300 block of Bevington Road. When officers arrived, several people were standing in front of a home. A female resident of the street was holding onto a white pit bull-type dog and a resident of Brinton Road was sitting in the back seat of a car holding a Jack Russell terrier-type dog. The Jack Russell terrier had numerous bite wounds and was bleeding from the neck and hind-end area. According to witnesses, the man was walking his dog down Bevington when the pit bull ran out of an open gate and attacked his dog. Afraid of being bit himself, the man let go of his dog’s leash and ran to the resident’s home, yelling for help. Several people who had been out walking and driving stopped to help. The resident came out of her house and restrained her dog. The resident told police she had taken the garbage out earlier and forgot to lock the gate when she came back inside. She said her dog is licensed and up to date on shots, and offered to pay for any veterinary bills. A neighbor helped the man transport his dog to an emergency veterinary hospital. The resident was cited by mail for violating a borough ordinance that prohibits dogs from running at large.

• Police received a call about a juvenile urinating in the Forest Hills Recreation Center parking lot. The youth was advised by police.

Dec. 3

• Police responded to a call at 12:08 p.m. from the Rite Aid store for a report that a woman was trying to return an item that was not previously purchased. The woman was reportedly sitting in a car outside the store. When an officer arrived at the scene, he found a car with a matching license plate with a man sitting in the driver’s seat who was with the woman as he exited the store. The woman was in the back seat. She told police there had been a misunderstanding and she had purchased the medication, valued at $29.99, the day before at the store. However, store records showed the medicine had not been sold at the store since mid-September. The woman had a sick child with her, so she was advised that she could receive a citation by mail for retail theft.

Dec. 2

• Two men got into a fight at about 10:02 p.m. in the 300 block Avenue A when one arrived to check on a woman living in a home there. One man claimed the other one struck him with a cane. Neither men were injured or showed signs of a fight. The first man claimed he had come to check on the woman because she had not answered the phone and he thought something might be wrong because she had argued with the second man earlier. The first man was advised, in the future, to call police if he had concerns for the woman’s safety.

Dec. 1

• While on a traffic stop on Electric Avenue, a Turtle Creek police officer turned over to a Forest Hills officer a cell phone that was found in the parking lot of the Taco Bell on Ardmore Boulevard.

• Police were dispatched to the Taco Bell for a report of a reckless driver. Two Pennsylvania state constables were following the vehicle as it was going the wrong way on Ardmore Boulevard. After leaving the restaurant, a Forest Hills officer located the truck at the intersection of Electric Avenue  at Tri Boro Expressway. The driver was given a field sobriety test and a breath analyzer test. The passenger was intoxicated and not able to operate the vehicle safely. The truck was towed and the men were given a ride to East McKeesport. 

• At about 11:36 p.m., police received a report of a white male standing on Ardmore Boulevard at Kenmore Avenue yelling for vehicles to hit him. When police arrived the man was standing in the middle of the fast lane directly in front of patrol car screaming. When he realized that it was a police vehicle, he walked across traffic into the Taco Bell parking lot in an attempt to walk away from the officer, who ordered the man to stop. He refused. The officer noticed the man staggering and again ordered him to stop. When he refused a second time, the officer deployed his Taser and gave the man a third warning. He finally complied.  The officer detected a strong odor of alcohol on the man’s breath. He told police the reason he was jumping in front of cars is that he wanted to die. The man agreed to seek treatment at Forbes Regional Hospital, where he was transported by police. He was cited for public drunkenness.

• A Rite Aid employee called police about a possible retail theft in progress at the store and provided a description of the suspect, who was still in the store. The assistant manager told police that the suspect had left a backpack at the front of the store and it was filled with cosmetic products. Police confronted the suspect, who said backpack was given to him by his girlfriend but that he did not know where they came from. An officer called the girlfriend, who said she had purchased the items at CVS. The officer asked her to bring the receipts to the station to have the items released. The man was told he was not permitted to return to the store. As of Dec. 4, the items had still not been claimed from the police station.

Nov. 30

• A woman stopped at the police station at about 6:13 p.m. Nov. 30 to report she had been in an accident involving a deer. She said she had just exited the Forest Hills ramp off the Parkway East. As she entered the 1600 block of Ardmore Boulevard (Route 30), she saw a deer run across the highway and hit the front of a vehicle just ahead of hers. The same deer bounced off the first vehicle and struck the right front fender of her car, causing minor damage. The deer took off running across the westbound lanes.

• At 6:48 p.m., police were dispatched to the 4000 block of Greensburg Pike for a deer that had been hit by a vehicle. When the officer arrived, the deer was lying in the road, alive, with broken front legs. The officer had to put the deer down. The public works department was notified for removal of the deer.

• A resident of Glasgow Road reported the theft of a beige-colored, plastic-wheeled garbage can and a Forest Hills recycling bin. The resident told police that the suspect emptied her trash into a black box and then took the can and bin.