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  • Man who assaulted Hatboro woman after she refused to abort his child is sentenced to prison

    Man who assaulted Hatboro woman after she refused to abort his child is sentenced to prison

    Last April, Raymond Bautista donned a ski mask and black clothing and waited for the mother of his unborn baby to leave her Hatboro apartment to head to work.

    Around 4:30 a.m., Bautista, 37, of Allentown, attacked the woman. He hit her from behind, and kicked her in the back and stomach. While she was on the ground, he got on top of her and punched her face. And when she began to scream, he ran.

    The woman, a coworker of Bautista’s who was 15 weeks pregnant with his child and had recently told him she planned to keep the baby, suffered nasal fractures and abrasions, according to police.

    On Tuesday, Bautista pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and no contest to aggravated assault of an unborn child.

    He was sentenced to four to six years in prison.

    The woman said in a statement read aloud by prosecutors the assault scars her to this day.

    “I lost my peace of leaving home every morning,” she said. “… No woman deserves to be treated this way.”

    After the assault, while the woman’s clothing was still soiled with blood, police asked whether she could think of anyone who would want to hurt her. The only person who came to mind, she said, was Bautista, a coworker at a Hatfield-based food processing company.

    According to the affidavit of probable cause for Bautista’s arrest, the woman said that after he learned that she was pregnant with his child, he told her to take an emergency contraceptive. He also said he “did not want any involvement with the child’s life,” the document said

    Bautista initially denied leaving his Allentown residence that morning and told police he had been sleeping.

    Investigators later recovered footage of Bautista’s vehicle being driven from Allentown to Hatboro that morning, as well as clothing resembling the attire worn by the woman’s assailant when he was captured in Ring doorbell camera footage of the assault.

    Presented with that evidence, police said, Bautista admitted to the crime. He told investigators he attacked the woman because she had been “talking [expletive]” about him at work.

    Montgomery County Court Judge Steven T. O’Neill accepted Bautista’s guilty plea and, in addition to sentencing him to years in prison, ordered him to have no contact with the woman and to attend domestic violence counseling.

    O’Neill commended the victim for facing Bautista in court and said that in her statement, he had “heard her courage.”

    “I hope you’ve heard the same,” the judge told Bautista.

  • A ‘milky white’ substance was leaking into a Chester County creek, and a business could face fines

    A ‘milky white’ substance was leaking into a Chester County creek, and a business could face fines

    A business that operates an industrial site in West Goshen Township that leaked hazardous discharge into a nearby creek could face fines, municipal officials said this week.

    Several people spotted a “milky white” substance in Goose Creek, near Nields Street in West Chester, on Saturday. The borough received reports of it around 12:20 p.m., according to a news release from the borough on Monday.

    The “illicit discharge” stemmed from a pipe at Atmos Technologies, at 216 Garfield Ave. in West Goshen Township, near Henderson High School. The leak was plugged within roughly an hour after reports were initially made, officials said.

    It is not known how long the pipe had been leaking before residents reported it.

    The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the spill to find out how much of it spread into the creek and what remediation efforts are needed to protect the public, officials said.

    Atmos Technologies told DEP that chlorinated water was released to a containment area, Robyn Briggs, a DEP spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday. It mixed with a manufactured product known as “Long Duration Foam AC-645,” forming a foaming agent.

    DEP alerted Aqua Pennsylvania, a public water provider that serves portions of Chester County. It continues to monitor the downstream flow, but said in a post online that residents’ drinking water was not affected.

    People had reported fish kills — mass deaths of fish, usually prompted by environmental stress or pollution — and “noticeable pollution” of the creek over the weekend, but Briggs said no further fish kills had been reported since and the creek appeared clear, with some foaming, on Sunday and Monday.

    Officials advised people and their pets to stay out of the creek, a West Goshen Township news release said Monday.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Gas prices are set to increase amid Iran war. Here’s what we know.

    Gas prices are set to increase amid Iran war. Here’s what we know.

    Americans could start paying more at the gas pump, following the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.

    West Texas Intermediate crude, an oil produced in the United States, surged 6.2% on Monday to $71.19 per barrel. As of Tuesday, it has spiked another 8%, hovering at around $77. It marks the oil’s highest point in over a year. But that’s just the beginning.

    Experts say those surges reflect similar spikes in natural gas and at the gas station.

    Here’s what we know.

    Why are gas prices going up?

    Known as the “crude oil effect,” when oil prices go up, so does the price of the fuel it makes. Crude oil must be processed at refineries to be turned into gasoline.

    The conflict in the Middle East, which President Donald Trump said he anticipates could take longer than a few weeks, means the global supply of oil is disrupted, and, in turn, the price of a barrel of oil goes up. This causes the price of fuel to also rise.

    “Whatever the time is, it’s OK,” Trump said. “Right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it.”

    Oil prices were already on the rise, up 17% this year. Experts say the increase is a direct effect of Trump’s rhetoric against Iran, along with his administration’s recent sanctions against the country.

    And, as noted by John Quigley, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, it’s not just oil and gasoline; natural gas is also seeing a price increase.

    And U.S. consumers will be hit hard, he says.

    “It’s disrupting global oil and gas markets,” he said. “The war is quickly widening into a regional conflict, with the production capacity of multiple oil- and gas-producing nations being attacked by Iran in retaliatory strikes. This has already disrupted global oil and natural gas shipments.”

    How much have gas prices increased since the strike on Iran?

    As oil prices surged Monday, the impacts already started to trickle down to gas stations. This week, the national average of gas per gallon surpassed $3 for the first time since November.

    Some states, including Illinois, Michigan, and Texas have already reported increases of about 5 cents per gallon.

    As of Tuesday morning, the national average hit $3.11, marking the largest single-day increase since 2022, according to GasBuddy, a gas price tracking service.

    Quigley says those increases could be just the beginning.

    “Prices for natural gas in European and Asian markets have already spiked 50%. U.S. natural gas exporters will rush to take advantage of that, diverting domestic supplies to exports and pushing up domestic natural gas prices,” he said. “That will raise costs for home heating, and worsen already surging electricity costs, because over 40% of electricity generation in PJM, the nation’s largest grid, is fueled by natural gas.”

    Do gas prices always rise during war?

    Gas prices historically surge when conflicts happen because of a mix of supply disruptions, geopolitical uncertainty, and oil infrastructure attacks.

    As detailed by NPR, major price surges occurred during the Gulf War, the 2003 Iraq invasion, and the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war.

    How high could gas prices get?

    GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan told multiple news outlets he believes some gas stations could charge as much as 30 cents more per gallon by the end of the week.

    He estimated prices would be around $3.10 or $3.20 per gallon by the end of the week and anticipated they would hit $3.30 to $3.35 “in time.”

    What are the average gas prices in the Philadelphia region? How does that compare to the national average?

    As of Tuesday morning:

    • The national average gas price: $3.11
    • The Pennsylvania average gas price: $3.21
    • The Philadelphia average gas price: $3.12

    Which areas in the Philly region have the lowest gas prices?

    The average price of gas in Philly is $3.12 per gallon as of Tuesday morning. Still, there are some spots with lower prices, according to GasBuddy.

    Among the lowest appears to be an Eastcoast station in Fairmount (801 N. Broad St.) with gas going for $2.79 as of Monday evening. A Marathon in Southwest Philly (2450 Island Ave.) listed gas at $2.74 within the last 24 hours.

    Among the highest appears to be a Gulf station in Kingsessing (5200 Woodland Ave.), priced at $3.29 as of Monday evening.

    Who sets gas prices?

    No one person sets gas prices. In reality, the price you see at pumps is the result of a combination of oil prices, supply and demand, oil refining costs, distribution, and competition.

  • Trump administration cuts off tuition assistance for Army officers at 22 schools, but Penn isn’t among them

    Trump administration cuts off tuition assistance for Army officers at 22 schools, but Penn isn’t among them

    Military officers will see their tuition assistance cut off at 22 schools and institutions, but the University of Pennsylvania is not among them.

    The Ivy League institution, which counts President Donald Trump among its alumni, was on an initial list of 34 schools “at risk” of losing Pentagon-funded tuition assistance. But Penn was not part of the 22-university list released by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday.

    Penn did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

    Hegseth previously said he intended to cut off schools where faculty members have “leftist political leanings” and “openly loathe our military,” but he cited no specific examples of bias or misconduct at the 22 schools that will lose tuition assistance beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.

    “We will no longer invest in institutions that fail to sharpen our leaders’ warfighting capabilities or that undermine the very values they are sworn to defend,” Hegseth wrote in a letter released Friday with the final list.

    It was not immediately clear why Penn and other schools were removed from the initial draft list.

    Among the schools still set to lose access to the tuition-assistance program is Princeton University, where Hegseth obtained a bachelor’s degree in 2003. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is also on the list, as is Yale University, where Vice President JD Vance obtained a law degree.

    The move means members of the military will be banned from using Department of Defense tuition assistance to pay for Senior Service College Fellowship programs at those schools.

    The impact will not be large — the Department of Defense said fewer than 100 military students are enrolled in programs at schools that will lose funding. Military personnel currently enrolled may complete their courses of study, Hegseth said, though it is unclear if they will have to change schools to continue receiving financial assistance.

    Hegseth’s announcement did not mention several other financial assistance programs for undergraduates, including the GI Bill, which is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    Here is the full list of schools losing tuition assistance from the Pentagon:

    Educational institutions

    • Harvard University
    • St. Louis University
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Tufts University
    • Georgetown University
    • Carnegie Mellon University
    • Brown University
    • Columbia University
    • Yale University
    • Middlebury College
    • Princeton University
    • George Washington University
    • College of William and Mary

    International institution

    • Queen’s University (Canada)

    Nonprofit institutions

    • Center for Strategic and International Studies
    • New America Foundation
    • Brookings Institution
    • Atlantic Council
    • Center for a New American Security
    • Council on Foreign Relations
    • Henry L. Stimson Center

    Senior Service College

    • Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies West Space Scholars Program
  • 1 person reportedly dead after 3-alarm fire in Bucks County

    1 person reportedly dead after 3-alarm fire in Bucks County

    One person has reportedly died after a three-alarm fire devastated several homes Monday evening in Birstol Borough.

    The fire erupted on the 300 block of Dorrance Street and reached three alarms, prompting a regional response by various firefighting companies.

    Police Chief Joseph Moors told NBC10 that first responder arrived at the scene around 6 p.m. and found two houses fully engulfed in flames. Several neighboring homes also were damaged.

    One person was killed and another was injured, Moors told NBC10.

    Video posted on social media by one person at the scene showed the electrical sparks bursting from the flames.

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  • A Montco man is charged with soliciting sex with a 15-year-old girl after paying for pictures of her feet

    A Montco man is charged with soliciting sex with a 15-year-old girl after paying for pictures of her feet

    A 76-year-old Hatboro man has been charged with allegedly soliciting sex acts with a 15-year-old girl after paying her and her younger sister for pictures of their feet, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said Monday.

    Dennis Reilly was arrested Friday and charged with multiple sex-related offenses. He was being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $99,000 cash bail, Steele said.

    On Thursday, two adults went to the Hatboro police station to report an alleged interaction between a man and a 15-year-old girl, Steele said.

    One of the adults, whose son is in a relationship with the teen girl, said he learned that she and her younger sister were recently outside walking a dog when they were approached by a man who was later identified as Reilly, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

    They were having a conversation when Reilly allegedly asked about the socks they were wearing, and this interaction led to Reilly paying the girls “around $100″ for pictures of their feet, according to the affidavit.

    The father of the 15-year-old girl’s boyfriend learned the girl was allegedly receiving multiple texts from Reilly asking for more photos of her feet, the affidavit said. The father then texted Reilly from his own phone pretending to be her and saying she had a new phone; thus, the teen would no longer be getting Reilly’s texts on her old phone.

    The father had a text exchange with Reilly that allegedly showed Reilly wanted to meet the girl to take more photos, specifically asking that she wear the “shoes you wore to school,” according to the affidavit.

    A Hatboro detective then used the father’s phone to continue pretending to be the teen girl and asked Reilly if she could do more to make $300, the affidavit said.

    Reilly allegedly made sexually explicit suggestions for what he wanted in exchange for the additional money and arranged for a meeting at a Wawa in Hatboro. The detective confronted Reilly at the Wawa and revealed Reilly had been texting with the police, the affidavit said.

    Reilly allegedly admitted he had a “foot fetish,” but he claimed he had not intended to go through with any sexual contact with the girl, the affidavit said.

    The detective asked to see the alleged pictures on Reilly’s phone of the girl’s feet, and Reilly “then accessed his cell phone photo library where I was able to see a large quantity of images of feet,” including the 15-year-old girl’s, the detective said in the affidavit.

    Reilly’s phone was taken as evidence.

    Hatboro Police Chief Mark Ruegg said that anyone who believes they have had a similar encounter with Reilly can call the Hatboro police at 215-675-2832.

  • Chester County’s CEO is off the job after about a year, as the county appoints new leadership

    Chester County’s CEO is off the job after about a year, as the county appoints new leadership

    Chester County has appointed a new top administrator after the county’s chief executive officer left his position Monday, officials said.

    David Byerman, who served as the county’s CEO for just over a year, left Monday. Erik Walschburger was immediately appointed to replace him, and will be overseeing the county’s staff and budget under the title of “county administrator” rather than CEO, a spokesperson said.

    Staff were informed of the changes Monday afternoon in an email from the county’s commissioners. The message, which announced Walschburger’s appointment, didn’t mention Byerman. His staff page was removed by Monday afternoon.

    The county did not give a reason for Byerman’s departure. He did not answer a phone call seeking comment.

    Walschburger comes into the role having served as deputy county administrator since 2022, with more than 15 years of experience in the county. As deputy, he oversaw the internal day-to-day operations. Prior to joining the county’s administrative side, he worked in the district attorney’s office, prosecuting criminal cases, managing diversionary programs, writing grants, and defending convictions on appeal.

    The email from the commissioners also said Megan Moser, the county’s chief experience officer, will continue in her role under a new title — the “deputy county administrator.” Moser joined the county last year, and has been involved with the response to multiple election errors in recent months.

    The county is searching for an acting deputy county administrator for operations to replace Walschburger, the email said.

    Byerman was appointed as CEO in November 2024, after years serving as the director of Kentucky’s legislative research commission and as the secretary of the state Senate in Nevada. As county CEO, Byerman oversaw the county’s more than 2,600 employees and managed the annual budget of roughly $730 million.

    “We look forward to working with the entire leadership team — and all of you — to establish and sustain a culture of collaboration and mutual support as we continue to provide the highest quality services to the residents of Chester County,” the commissioners said in their email to staff.

    The staff changes come as the county has made repeated missteps in recent elections, the most significant forcing more than 12,000 voters to cast provisional ballots in the November election. Residents told the commissioners last month that it had rattled their trust in county operations.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Snow and ice are expected Tuesday in Philly, but a warm-up is on the way

    Snow and ice are expected Tuesday in Philly, but a warm-up is on the way

    The remnants of winter are about to go on spring break — or at least yield to a “dirty warm-up” — but they evidently are going to take a messy parting shot at the region Tuesday morning.

    The National Weather Service has posted a winter weather advisory effective at 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. for the entire region for a mix of snow (not much) and ice beginning around daybreak before flipping to just plain rain.

    The precipitation is expected to start around daybreak as snow that won’t be plowable, or maybe even visible, but the more significant threat would be a glaze of freezing rain, said Nick Guzzo a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.

    At most, snow would accumulate a few tenths of an inch, he said, transitioning to freezing rain and just plain liquid rain throughout the region before the morning is over.

    But coinciding with the peak morning commuting period, the timing is a concern, he added.

    Temperatures are due to be near freezing when the precipitation gets underway but climb into the mid-30s by midmorning. The March sun should make quick work of melting anything that freezes on the roadways.

    Then the temperature might not drop below freezing for the next 10 days, and make it to 70 degrees Sunday.

    But don’t expect it to be “bright and beautiful,” said Bob Larsen, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.

    A major pattern change is underway across the nation

    “It’s what we like to refer to as a ‘dirty warm-up,’” said Larsen. Here’s the dirt: It is due to be cloudy at least through Friday with rain possible Thursday and Friday and highs in 50s. Normal highs are in the upper 40s.

    The sun is due back Saturday with readings in the 60s, and perhaps into the 70s on Sunday, but with another chance of rain. Larsen said at least two days, and maybe four, next week are expected to feature highs in the 70s, before a cool down perhaps next Thursday or Friday.

    The surges of mild air are related to a major pattern change in the upper atmosphere. For the last several weeks, the atmosphere has aligned to favor cold, snow, and ice in the East and springlike temperatures in West.

    That’s about to reverse, as the West gets its turn with winter and the East gets a spring tease.

    But don’t put in the screens just yet, Larsen advises.

    “March can be a cruel month,” he said, and winter isn’t prone to go gently. “We’re not going to slam door on it yet.”

    He that some signs are pointing to a more-wintry end to the month, which would not be at all unusual.

    “In my mind there’s only two seasons, summer and winter,” Larsen said, and spring and fall are when they fight their turf wars.

  • Lankenau Medical Center’s new president is Anna Michelle Brandt

    Lankenau Medical Center’s new president is Anna Michelle Brandt

    Main Line Health appointed Anna Michelle Brandt president of its Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, the nonprofit health system announced Monday.

    Brandt mostly recently worked as chief operating officer at University Hospital, a 519-bed academic medical center in Newark, N.J., which Main Line’s new CEO Ed Jimenez led before taking over at Main Line.

    The new Lankenau president also worked previously with Jimenez at UF Health Shands Hospital in Florida.

    Brandt succeeds Katie Galbraith, who left Lankenau in September after about three years to lead New England Baptist Hospital in Boston.

    Lankenau, a level 2 trauma center, sits in Lower Merion Township at the intersection of West Philadelphia and Montgomery and Delaware Counties.

    It also has the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, which has programs in cancer, cardiovascular, autoimmune, and other diseases.

  • A family mourns a motorcyclist from Northeast Philly killed by a car that detached from a tow truck

    A family mourns a motorcyclist from Northeast Philly killed by a car that detached from a tow truck

    A motorcyclist from Northeast Philadelphia died Saturday after being struck by a car that detached from a tow truck, police said.

    His sister identified the motorcyclist as Jason Harvey, 39, who she said was riding his Harley-Davidson at the time of the crash.

    “Jason was an avid motorcycle enthusiast and loved his family,” said his older sister, Christine Harvey of Mantua, N.J. Harvey said her brother, who was born and raised in Northeast Philly, lived simply, “would never hurt a soul, and would never miss your call.”

    The crash happened on the 4000 block of Frankford Avenue around 4:15 p.m. Saturday, according to Philadelphia police Inspector D.F. Pace.

    File photo of Philadelphia police Inspector D.F. Pace taken in August 2024.

    A preliminary investigation found that a tow truck heading south on Frankford Avenue was hauling a silver Dodge Magnum when the car detached from the truck, Pace said.

    “The unoccupied vehicle then rolled into the opposing lane of travel and struck an oncoming motorcycle head-on,” he said. The motorcyclist was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, he said.

    The driver left the scene before police arrived, Pace said. Police used city surveillance cameras to identify the tow truck, which is being held as evidence, and have spoken to the towing company.

    Police are still seeking the driver, who as of Sunday afternoon remained at large, Pace said.

    Another tow truck driver, Brandon Harling with A. Bob’s Towing, said he removed the vehicles from the scene.

    “It was very bad,” said Harling. “The bike was stuck in the driver-side doorway of the car.”

    Christine Harvey said the family is still processing what happened. She noted that in 2017, her brother’s 9-year-old daughter, Prudence, died in a house fire in North Philadelphia.

    “Although he continued to make everyone else smile, he just never stopped hurting over her loss,” Harvey said. “He gave the best hugs and if there is a heaven, God, I hope there is — he’s up there with his little girl.”