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Author: Jesse Bunch

  • ‘I was vulnerable’: Women testify against head of Delco addiction nonprofit accused of trading money for sexual favors

    ‘I was vulnerable’: Women testify against head of Delco addiction nonprofit accused of trading money for sexual favors

    The woman, then battling an addiction to heroin, said she sought help at the Opioid Crisis Action Network, a beacon of hope for those struggling with substance abuse disorder in Delaware County.

    But instead of providing compassionate care, Larry Arata, the nonprofit’s founder, offered her gift cards in exchange for oral sex in his car in 2024, the woman testified Thursday in a Delaware County courtroom.

    The experience traumatized her, she said, and within a month she had dropped out of recovery and overdosed.

    “I was still on heroin, and I needed help,” the woman said, her voice breaking as she recalled the encounter. “I didn’t expect to have to do that.”

    As she spoke, Arata, 65, sat in the courtroom for a preliminary hearing in a sweeping prostitution and trafficking case that Delaware County prosecutors brought against him late last year.

    He has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers said Thursday that they would present a robust defense at trial.

    In emotional testimony, six women took the stand and accused Arata of criminal behavior. The Inquirer is not naming the women because the newspaper does not identify victims of sex crimes without their permission

    One woman said Arata hired her to clean the Opioid Crisis Action Network’s office as she was trying to get sober. Almost immediately, she said, he began complimenting her appearance. Eventually, they began having sex in Arata’s private office at the nonprofit and at a nearby hotel, she said, where he sneaked her in a back door.

    Afterward, she said, Arata would give her a $300 paycheck, as well as extra cash and gift cards.

    Other women who sought the Action Network’s help said Arata made comments about their appearance and offered them financial incentives after sexual encounters in parks, hotels, and in one case, his father’s home.

    Arata founded the Opioid Crisis Action Network after his son died of an overdose in 2017, and he became something of a figurehead for issues surrounding addiction in the suburban county.

    But Arata abused his position of influence, prosecutors said in November as they charged him with multiple counts of trafficking, patronizing prostitutes, promoting prostitution, obstruction, and one count of harassment.

    They said Arata twisted his nonprofit’s mission, using cash, gift cards, and rent payments to elicit sex from vulnerable women who relied on him for help.

    In one case, a woman testified that Arata told after a sexual encounter that “secrets are meant to be kept.” Others said he worried that his wife would find out about the sexual encounters and asked them to delete sexually explicit images they had texted him.

    And one woman — who said Arata had cornered her in his office and tried to kiss her — said that when he later learned that she had spoken to county investigators about the incident, called her a liar and told her to recant.

    Arata’s attorneys did not call any witnesses. They told the judge their client’s alleged behavior did not meet the legal standards for many of charges against him, including trafficking and obstruction.

    After hearing nearly four hours of testimony, Delaware County Court Judge Benjamin Johns said prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for all charges against Arata to stand.

    Brandi McLaughlin, an attorney for Arata, told reporters that her team would try the case in a “courthouse, not the media.”

  • Chester County man pleads guilty to killing a 9-month-old baby

    Chester County man pleads guilty to killing a 9-month-old baby

    A Chester County man pleaded guilty to murder and related crimes earlier this month after he punched a 9-month-old infant and did not seek medical care for the child, prosecutors said Wednesday.

    Enrique Lopez-Gomez, 32, of West Grove, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child on Feb. 11, according to prosecutors.

    He remains incarcerated in the Chester County Prison and awaits sentencing.

    Announcing the charges, Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe called the crime “unthinkable.”

    Prosecutors say Lopez-Gomez was the child’s caregiver at the time of the 2024 incident, when he fell on the infant at a residence in Kennett Square. As the baby began to cry in pain, Lopez-Gomez punched the child in the abdomen, prosecutors said.

    He did not seek help or tell anyone about the child’s injuries, according to prosecutors, nor did he offer medical care as the child’s condition worsened that evening.

    First responders who were later called to the scene removed the baby from the home, and the child was pronounced dead at Nemours/A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children.

    Medical examiners determined that the child had died from blunt force trauma, leading to an intestinal rupture and soft tissue bleeding, prosecutors said.

    The baby had also suffered large bruises around the abdomen.

    Prosecutors have yet to set a date for Lopez-Gomez’s sentencing. He is being held on $10 million bail.

  • Her brother was killed in the Kingsessing mass shooting. Now her only son is dead from gun violence, too.

    Her brother was killed in the Kingsessing mass shooting. Now her only son is dead from gun violence, too.

    In December, Katrina Williams watched as the man who killed her brother was sentenced to decades in prison and felt, she said, as if a two-year nightmare was coming to an end.

    But weeks later, another shooting took the life of her only son.

    Williams’ brother, Lashyd Merritt, 21, was one of five people killed in a mass shooting in Kingsessing in July 2023, when Kimbrady Carriker walked through the Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood with an AR-15 rifle and fired at random passersby.

    Then, in January, her 19-year-old son, Russell, was killed by a man who, like the Kingsessing shooter, committed a spree of crimes, police say.

    “I’ll never understand it,” said Williams, 43. “There’s no reason for it.”

    A high school photograph of Russell Williams being held by his father and mother, Katrina and Russell Williams Sr. at their home in Southwest Philadelphia on Feb. 6.

    For Williams, the trauma of Merritt’s violent death never fully dissipated, she said, and the fatal shooting of her son only compounds her pain.

    It’s a cycle of violence that is not unfamiliar in the city.

    For others with relatives killed in the Kingsessing attack, the traumatic impact of gun violence did not end on that July day. Nyshyia Thomas lost her 15-year-old son, DaJuan Brown, to the gunfire and, while she was still mourning, her 21-year-old son, Daquan Brown, was arrested last year in connection with another mass shooting in Grays Ferry.

    Asked about the evening of Jan. 28, when she and her husband, Russell Williams Sr., learned of their son’s death, Williams said two things came to mind:

    “Déjà vu,” she said, and “hell.”

    A seemingly random crime

    Around 10 p.m. near 64th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard, police said, 19-year-old Zaamir Harris stepped off a SEPTA bus and stole a bike from the vehicle.

    He rode up to Russell Williams, who was walking home from night school, where the teen was studying to become a commercial truck driver. Harris then pulled a gun and fired at Williams multiple times, striking him in the throat, police said.

    Williams collapsed near 66th Street and Dicks Avenue, just three blocks from home. After the shooting, Harris ditched the bike and stole an e-scooter before fleeing, according to police.

    Police tracked Harris to a Wawa at 84th Street and Bartram Avenue, where he was arrested. He was charged with murder and gun crimes. Investigators recovered three fired cartridge casings from the scene, as well as a 9mm handgun, according to police.

    A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department declined to say whether investigators have determined a motive for the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation.

    Katrina Williams said her son did not know Harris, and a police detective told her the shooting was random.

    After he was shot, Russell Williams was rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. It was the same hospital where Williams’ brother, Merritt, was taken after being shot in Kingsessing, she said.

    Katrina Williams, whose son, Russell, 19, was shot and killed not far from family home in Southwest Philadelphia.

    Russell Williams had recently graduated from Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter School and dreamed of an entrepreneurial career in stock trading.

    Like her son, Williams said, Merritt was a hard worker who wanted to better his life. He worked for the IRS, had a girlfriend, and wanted to travel the world, she said.

    “We lost two great people,” Williams said. “Two of them.”

    That police made an arrest in the slaying of their son has brought little solace, Williams and her husband said as they sat in their Southwest Philadelphia living room on a recent February day. Family photos filled the space, and a portrait of Russell, smiling and wearing a tuxedo, hung on the wall.

    As the case against her son’s accused killer proceeds, Williams said, she will be in court every step of the way, just as she was when Carriker pleaded guilty in the death of her brother.

    In December, as Carriker faced sentencing, Williams said, she could not bring herself to address the judge and ask for a long prison sentence, as relatives of other victims did. She was so overcome with anger, she said, that she feared she might physically attack her brother’s killer.

    But she was in the room when Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson sentenced him to 37½ to 75 years in prison. In Williams’ view, Carriker should have received a life sentence for each person he killed, she said, even if no punishment could make up for the loss of Merritt.

    Now, Williams is preparing to head back to court as she once again seeks justice.

    Since her son’s death, Williams said, she has taken comfort in the kindness of friends and family. She was touched, she said, to see a “block full of people” gather to honor his life and release balloons in his memory. But the ache of her loss remains.

    “It’s like pain on top of pain — it’s just always gonna be hard,“ Williams said. ”I just gotta deal with it the best way I can.”

  • ‘She was struggling alone’: Family mourns Bucks County woman killed after reporting a sexual assault

    ‘She was struggling alone’: Family mourns Bucks County woman killed after reporting a sexual assault

    When Yuan Yuan Lu’s boyfriend sexually assaulted her in his Pennsport home last week, her cousin said, she broke up with him and went to the police.

    The 28-year-old Bucks County woman thought she was doing the right thing by reporting the crime, her cousin Natalie Truong said.

    “She told me how safe she felt, how much better she felt opening up and telling the cops her story,” said Truong, who spent time with Lu the evening she reported the assault.

    That was the last time Truong saw Lu alive.

    On Sunday, less than 12 hours after Lu called police to say that her ex-boyfriend, Yujun Ren, had attacked her, police said, Ren, 32, stalked her. He followed her to her home in Levittown, police said, approached her as she sat in her car outside her house, and shot her in the head, killing her.

    Lu’s death shook her loved ones and led to calls on social media for increased awareness of intimate partner violence.

    Truong said Lu leaves behind dreams unfulfilled. Lu grew up in a small village in south China, and moved to the United States with her father in 2009 to seek a more prosperous life.

    In Philadelphia, she attended Constitution High School, perfected her English, and always kept her friends abreast of her latest entrepreneurial pursuits, Truong said.

    Lu went into the food business with friends, cooking homemade Asian cuisine and selling it in carts on local college campuses, and later worked in a bubble tea shop and at a nursing home.

    Yuan Yuan Lu loved to eat at Philadelphia’s restaurants, according to her cousin, Natalie Truong.

    She loved her pets — a corgi named Dundun and a cat named Milk Cap, after a creamy bubble tea topping. Lu and Truong frequented Philadelphia restaurants, most recently dining together at Kalaya in Fishtown, and took day trips to places like New Jersey’s Swaminarayan Akshardham, the second-largest Hindu temple in the world.

    Despite the cousins’ close relationship, Truong said, Lu did not share a lot of details about her personal life, perhaps not wanting to trouble others with her concerns.

    Truong said Lu did not talk a lot about her relationship with Ren, whom she had met at her nursing home job and had dated for about a year. Truong’s perception of the relationship changed the night her cousin opened up about Ren’s behavior, she said.

    “She was struggling alone for a while,” Truong said, adding that initially, Lu “liked him, so we all trusted her judgment.”

    On Sunday, the day after Lu reported the assault, Ren turned himself in to police in Middletown Township, and officers discovered Lu’s body in her white Hyundai shortly after noon, authorities said. He was charged with murder, stalking, and a firearms crime.

    Ren told police that Lu had said “hurtful things” to him that day and that, in an attempt to scare her, he had brandished the firearm, which he said accidentally discharged. He was licensed to own the weapon, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

    Ren’s aunt later turned in her nephew’s 9mm handgun — a weapon Lu had told police he “carried everywhere,” leading her to fear for her safety, the affidavit said.

    Truong said she wished law enforcement had had more time to investigate the sexual assault before Lu was killed. Her death was tragic, her cousin said, a life ended all too soon.

    Lu’s father had recently left Philadelphia to join his wife and son in China. Truong has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help the family with funeral expenses and to pay for travel to Philadelphia to attend the service.

    As the family mourns Lu’s death, Truong said, they are hopeful that law enforcement officials will hold her killer accountable.

    “We just want her to get the justice that she deserves, because she’s a really kind person,” Truong said. “She never thought this would happen to her — because you would never think someone you love can hurt you like that.”

    Yuan Yuan Lu poses with her corgi, Dundun, and her cat, Milk Cap.
  • Man who stole nearly $250,000 from Pa. Occupational Therapy Association charged with theft

    Man who stole nearly $250,000 from Pa. Occupational Therapy Association charged with theft

    A Western Pennsylvania man stole nearly $250,000 from the Montgomery County-based Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association, prosecutors said Monday, and spent the money on a trip to Disney World, country club membership fees, an Outer Banks vacation rental, and other personal expenses.

    Michael Fantuzzo, 40, was charged with several counts of theft for the crimes, which prosecutors said took place between 2021 and 2024 while Fantuzzo, of Westmoreland County, served as treasurer for the nonprofit trade organization.

    In all, prosecutors said, Fantuzzo spent $246,708 of the association’s funds, effectively reducing its savings account to zero.

    Fantuzzo admitted to investigators that he used the association’s funds for personal expenses, though he initially told them he had spent $90,000 of the group’s funds and did so by accident.

    A further investigation into Fantuzzo’s spending found that the sum was much larger.

    Prosecutors say Fantuzzo spent more than $100,000 from the association’s bank account to pay off debt on a handful of credit cards opened in his name.

    And Fantuzzo charged more than $128,000 to the association’s credit card, including $10,513 to install a hot tub at his home; $7,247 for a vacation home rental in Duck, N.C.; $5,460 for his local and county taxes; $4,124 for membership to the Hillcrest Country Club; $2,040 for a limousine service; and $2,019 for the trip to Disney World.

    Members of the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association, based in Plymouth Meeting at the time of the theft, realized something was wrong when newly elected board members learned the organization they inherited was experiencing “severe financial distress,” police said. They reported the suspicious payments to authorities in November.

    The association advocates for occupational therapists and provides career development and networking opportunities, among other services, according to its website.

    Investigators say they linked the spending back to Fantuzzo in a variety of ways.

    Some payments, such as the Disney World tickets, included Fantuzzo and his family members’ names on the charges. Meanwhile, the PayPal payments went to an account bearing the name of Fantuzzo’s wife. And investigators tracked Fantuzzo’s name back to invoices and rental agreements for other purchases.

    Fantuzzo turned himself in to Montgomery County authorities on Feb. 6. He was released from custody and is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 17.

  • Philadelphia man charged with killing woman who reported him for sexual assault, officials say

    Philadelphia man charged with killing woman who reported him for sexual assault, officials say

    A Philadelphia man was charged with murder after fatally shooting his girlfriend in Levittown this weekend, shortly after she told police he had sexually assaulted her, authorities said.

    Yujun Ren, 32, turned himself in to police in Middletown Township Sunday and told them he had been trying to scare the woman, Yuan Yuan Lu, when the firearm he carried accidentally discharged, killing her.

    Investigators believe otherwise, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Ren’s arrest.

    In addition to murder, prosecutors charged Ren with stalking and a gun crime. He is being held without bail.

    Bristol Township police discovered Lu’s body shortly after noon Sunday in the driver’s seat of a white Hyundai in a residential neighborhood, according to the affidavit.

    Lu had been shot in the head. Police found that the driver’s side window had been struck by gunfire, and they recovered an expended shell casing from a small caliber handgun.

    In Ren’s interview with investigators, he told them that Lu had said “hurtful things and took their cats and dogs,” the affidavit said, leading him to pull the handgun in an attempt to scare her.

    A day earlier, Lu had told Philadelphia police that Ren had sexually assaulted her at his home on South Orianna Street in Pennsport.

    The assault, which Lu said happened around 1 p.m. Saturday, led her to end the relationship and pack her things to leave while Ren was at work, according to the affidavit. Lu told police she was afraid of Ren and said “he had a firearm he carried everywhere,” the document said.

    Ren legally owned a Mossberg MC20 9mm pistol, investigators found.

    The day Ren turned himself in, a woman who told police that she was Ren’s aunt turned that firearm over to Middletown Township authorities, according to the affidavit.

    Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan said in a statement that the killing was a “sobering reminder of the lethal nature of domestic violence.”

    “Our investigation revealed a chilling course of conduct,” said Khan, adding that investigators recovered evidence showing Ren stalked Lu in the early morning hours before shooting her.

    Ren is set to appear in district court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.

  • A Michigan man who set fire to a Bensalem house to target his ex’s new boyfriend is sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison

    A Michigan man who set fire to a Bensalem house to target his ex’s new boyfriend is sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison

    A Michigan man who drove across the country to set fire to a Bensalem family’s home in a targeted attack on a romantic rival was sentenced Thursday to 20 to 40 years in prison.

    Harrison Jones, 22, pleaded no contest to six counts of attempted murder and two counts of animal cruelty for the killing of the family’s two dogs, which perished in the blaze. He also pleaded guilty to a slew of related crimes in connection with the February 2025 incident.

    Bucks County prosecutors said Jones drove more than 700 miles from his native Rockford, Mich., that winter to set the blaze at the home of Alex Zalenski, a man Jones’ ex-girlfriend and high school sweetheart had recently begun a long-distance relationship with.

    Zalenski, along with his father, mother, sister, and grandparents, was sleeping when Jones broke in and set off an incendiary device in the living room and kitchen around 5 a.m. Their dogs, Jett and Trey, barked, waking up the family, who all managed to escape.

    Members of the Zalenski family suffered non-life-threatening burns and injuries, though in court they recounted traumatic memories that they said would not soon heal.

    Alex Zalenski’s sister, Ava, recalled being awakened to the sound of yelling and heavy smoke clouding her room, choking her airways.

    “My dad told me to get down to breathe,” she said. “At age 20, I was ready to accept death.”

    The family had just minutes to escape the blaze, which consumed the property and left them without a home.

    Andrew Zalenski, the father of Alex and Ava Zalenski, recalled telling them to crawl on the floor to avoid inhaling smoke.

    He forced them out of a window before going to look for his wife, Stacy, he said, but could not find her and fled.

    It was challenging to describe the feeling of watching your home ablaze “believing your wife is burning to death inside,” he tearfully recounted.

    Stacy Zalenski had been trying, unsuccessfully, to save the dogs. The woman, who is battling breast and lung cancer, ultimately jumped from a second-floor window to survive.

    Andrew Zalenski suffered from severe smoke inhalation and was put in an induced coma in the hospital, he said.

    Meanwhile, Alex Zalenski — the young man whose relationship with Jones’ ex had enraged the Michigan man — said the attack “shredded any normalcy I had.”

    He had to withdraw from college after the incident, he said, and has since had trouble sleeping.

    “It felt as if my entire world had been set ablaze,” he told the court.

    Jones, wearing a yellow prison jumpsuit and shoulder-length hair, showed little emotion during the Zalenski family’s remarks.

    Given the opportunity to speak, however, Jones took full responsibility for the crime.

    “I need to take accountability,” Jones said, his voice breaking. “I’m guilty — I’ve done what I’ve done.”

    Jones’ family, including his father, mother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, and stepbrother, were in the gallery behind him.

    Jones’ attorney, Paul Lang, said Jones had no previous criminal record and had suffered physical abuse growing up. To cope, he had turned to abusing Xanax and marijuana, Lang said.

    Jones, for his part, alluded to being under the influence of drugs during the attack.

    In addition to sentencing Jones to decades in prison, Bucks County Court Judge Matthew D. Weintraub ordered him to pay more than $500,000 in restitution to the Zalenski family.

    Weintraub told the Zalenskis that the trauma of the attack had clearly bonded their family.

    Addressing Jones, the judge said he believed the young man had attempted to “effectuate maximum damage” that day.

  • Police searching for ‘armed and dangerous’ suspect in killings of two men in city’s towing industry

    Police searching for ‘armed and dangerous’ suspect in killings of two men in city’s towing industry

    Philadelphia police are searching for a suspect in connection with the shooting deaths of two tow truck drivers, department officials said Wednesday.

    Najee Williams, 27, is considered armed and dangerous, police said. Homicide investigators say Williams is connected to the fatal shootings of 20-year-old David Garcia-Morales in December and 25-year-old Aaron Whitfield in January.

    Williams faces charges of murder, conspiracy, and related crimes. There is a $20,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest and conviction.

    The killings of Garcia-Morales and Whitfield, who police say worked for the Jenkintown-based towing company 448 Towing and Recovery, rattled the city and put a focus on the competitive business of towing.

    Williams is the owner and operator of N.K.W Towing and Recovery, of North Philadelphia, according to a police source who asked not to be identified to discuss an ongoing investigation.

    A Facebook page for N.K.W features photos of car accidents and messages urging potential customers to call the company.

    “INVOLVED IN A ACCIDENT OR SEE ONE CALL ME” one message says.

    Another post from 2024 says: “Left the streets in a patty wagon, came back home and got right to it! Been home for 2 years now & as I sit here and think how bless I’m to have my freedom back.”

    It was not immediately clear who made the post.

    Staff Inspector Ernest Ransom, commanding officer of the homicide unit, said forensic evidence collected from a stolen Honda used in the shooting of Whitfield led investigators to Williams.

    The department’s fugitive task force and U.S. Marshals are assisting in the search for Williams, whose last known whereabouts were in Montgomery County, authorities say.

    On Dec. 22, police were called to 4200 Torresdale Avenue to find Garcia-Morales shot and injured inside a Ford F-450 towing vehicle. He was struck in the neck and thigh, and died four days later at Temple University Hospital.

    The second shooting, which took place on Jan. 11 on the 2100 block of Knorr Street, left Whitfield dead at the scene after he was struck by gunfire in the head and body.

    Whitfield had also been sitting in a tow truck, according to police. His 21-year-old girlfriend was shot in the leg and survived her injuries.

    Philadelphia’s towing industry is competitive and drivers often traverse the city in search of car accidents, hoping to be the first to arrive at the scene.

    That practice persists despite a city policy that requires police and dispatchers to cycle through a list of approved towing companies to contact when responding to accidents.

  • Villanova football player accused of rape texted victim hours after alleged assault

    Villanova football player accused of rape texted victim hours after alleged assault

    A freshman football player at Villanova University texted the woman he is accused of raping to apologize for the encounter, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest, offering new details about the incident.

    D’Hani Cobbs, 20, was charged with rape, sexual assault, and related crimes after police say he assaulted a woman who also attends the university. He was removed from campus following the Dec. 7 attack, school officials said in a statement. The student newspaper the Villanovan first reported his arrest.

    According to the affidavit, Cobbs allegedly assaulted the woman in Good Counsel Hall on the Main Line school’s South Campus.

    The early morning attack began after Cobbs and the woman, whom police did not identify, met at an off-campus event and exchanged phone numbers, the document said.

    The two later got a ride with others back to South Campus, according to the affidavit. Sometime between 1 and 2 a.m., Cobbs and the woman entered a residence hall room along with another person, whom the filing did not identify. That person left, the document said, leaving the woman alone with Cobbs.

    Cobbs asked the woman for a hug, and then he “tried to kiss her, and she said no,” the filing said. Cobbs then “pinned her up against a desk” and began touching her buttocks and genitals and penetrated her with his fingers, the affidavit said. He then grabbed her and lifted her on top of his bed and allegedly raped her, according to the affidavit.

    The woman later told police she was screaming and crying during the attack. She said she left the room in tears and asked Cobbs to call a friend to pick her up.

    Cobbs later contacted the woman twice, according to the filing.

    Around 2 a.m., he texted: “Are [you for real] good tho? That was random [as hell]” and “U were jus fine.”

    Just before 5:30 p.m., Cobbs texted: “Yoo Wsp, u ok? My apologies if I made u feel uncomfortable in any way last night I didn’t have any intentions on making u feel uncomfortable. If u want to talk about it over the phone or in person we can just to come to more of a understanding.”

    When investigators interviewed Cobbs that week, he did not deny that he had sexual contact with the woman but said it was consensual.

    Cobbs’ defense attorney, Thomas G. Masciocchi, did not immediately return a request for comment.

    Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said in a statement Monday that prosecutors had reviewed evidence in the case and swiftly brought charges.

    “The message here is as simple as it is clear — when it comes to other people’s bodies, no means no, and stop means stop,” Rouse said. “That’s what we tell our kids and it holds true throughout life, no matter who you are or how talented an athlete you might be.”

    As of this week, Cobbs’ player bio page on Villanova’s website is out of service with an error message.

    Cobbs’ profile on ESPN is still active, and lists the New Jersey native as a wide receiver. He returned one punt last season, according to the page. A post from the Instagram account for Villanova’s football team announced Cobbs’ signing in 2024.

    A Villanova spokesperson said in a statement that in addition to ordering Cobbs to leave campus, the school is “committed to both supporting the victim and fostering a safe environment for all of our students.”

    Cobbs was arraigned Friday and was released on unsecured bail, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 12 and is ordered not to have contact with the woman.

  • ‘Violence will not be tolerated’: Woman who pepper-sprayed conservative influencer on SEPTA bus charged with assault

    ‘Violence will not be tolerated’: Woman who pepper-sprayed conservative influencer on SEPTA bus charged with assault

    A former WHYY intern who pepper-sprayed a conservative influencer on a SEPTA bus was charged with simple assault and other crimes by prosecutors in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on Thursday, officials said.

    Video of the Jan. 19 incident between 22-year-old Paulina Reyes and 22-year-old Francis Scales quickly went viral on social media, garnering millions of views and spurring reactions from right-leaning influencers and Elon Musk.

    During the confrontation, Reyes — whose internship with WHYY had ended before the incident — accused Scales of being a “fascist” and a “racist” for posting content online she viewed as insulting to Muslims and people of color.

    Attorney General Dave Sunday, in announcing Thursday that his office’s mass transit prosecutor would oversee the case, said “violence will not be tolerated as a means to conduct political debate, protest, or exhibit differences.

    “This type of violence is senseless, as we have an individual facing criminal charges over political disagreement,” the attorney general said in a statement.

    In addition to simple assault, Reyes is charged with possessing an instrument of a crime, a misdemeanor. She also faces charges of harassment and disorderly conduct, which are summary offenses.

    Reyes was arraigned Thursday morning and released without having to to post bail.

    The mass transit prosecutor for Philadelphia, Michael Untermeyer, worked with SEPTA police to bring the charges, according to Sunday.

    The special prosecutor position, created in 2023 to pursue crimes committed on SEPTA, had been slow to take cases up until last year.

    It has drawn criticism from District Attorney Larry Krasner, who last year challenged the law that created the post, saying it was unconstitutional, unfairly singled out Philadelphia, and stripped his office of authority.

    A spokesperson for Krasner did not immediately return a request for comment on the special prosecutor’s decision.

    Footage of the South Philadelphia incident ricocheted across conservative media, and some influencers had accused Reyes of being an “Antifa agitator” and called for her arrest. Musk’s comments on X, suggesting Reyes had “violence issues,” generated hundreds of thousands of views alone.

    Reyes told The Inquirer in an earlier interview that she had been defending herself against Scales, who was filming her, and that resorting to pepper spray was “not something I wanted to do.”

    She said she has since received death and rape threats for her role in the confrontation. She did not return a request for comment Thursday.

    Reyes and Scales knew each other from attending the Community College of Philadelphia, where Reyes is still a student.

    Videos on Scales’ social media page, Surge Philly, show the commentator interviewing attendees at protests, asking them questions about charged topics such as immigration enforcement. He has also been a vocal critic of Krasner.

    Scales said Reyes’ pepper spray got in his face and eyes, and Sunday, the attorney general, said Reyes also punched the man. A friend who was with Scales filmed the incident. Scales, too, filmed Reyes, saying he did so for his own safety.

    Scales said in a statement that he was grateful for the attorney general’s decision to bring charges, and that he hoped that would deter others from similar actions.

    “No one has the right to physically attack another person because of different opinions,” Scales said.