Port Richmond

Philadelphia police last year recommended bringing charges of witness intimidation against former Officer Richard DeCoatsworth, once hailed as a hero for his work on the force and charged over the weekend with rape, a high-ranking police official said Sunday. Capt. John Gallagher, a former commander of East Detectives now assigned to the department's Counter-Terrorism Operations, said the recommendation stemmed from allegations that DeCoatsworth, 27, had kidnapped, assaulted, and robbed a Port Richmond man who lived two blocks from him over an unpaid debt.

A two-alarm blaze erupted at a refrigerated warehouse in the city's Port Richmond section Friday night, fire officials said. Building material on the roof of the the sprawling one-story warehouse at 3201 N. Delaware Ave. caught fire shortly before 9:30 p.m. There were no reported injuries and no hazardous material on site. At 10:35 p.m., the fire was declared under control.    -Robert Moran

A charter school bus carrying 25 children was rear-ended by a car Monday afternoon in the city's Port Richmond section, but no students were hurt, officials said. The bus was transporting students from Maritime Academy Charter School when it was hit by a car about 4 p.m. in the 4100 block of Richmond Street, said School District spokeswoman Deirdre Darragh. The occupants of the car were initially reported with minor injuries but refused to be treated. Another bus took the children home.

A woman was shot and killed at 3 a.m. Monday in the 2000 block of East Atlantic Street in the city's Port Richmond section, police said. Aiesha Holloway, 19, of the 2100 block of East Ontario Street, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Holloway's body was found in a white Chevrolet Cavalier, although police could not say if she had been the driver or a passenger. "We don't have a motive or a suspect at the time," a police spokeswoman said. - Michael Vitez

Police are looking for the driver of a blue and white taxi cab that struck a man crossing Aramingo Avenue in Port Richmond early Thursday and fled after stopping briefly. The injured 26-year-old man was reported in stable condition Thursday afternoon at Temple University Hospital. Police said he was crossing Aramingo Avenue in the middle of the 3300 block shortly after midnight when he was hit by the northbound cab. The taxi stopped briefly and then drove off northbound on the avenue, police said.

A Port Richmond man was being held Friday on $3 million bail after authorities said they found explosives in his house. Nicholas Suozzo, 31, of the 2600 block of East Thompson Street, was arrested Thursday after police, serving a narcotics warrant on his house, found incendiary devices believed to be pipe bombs. Suozzo was charged with possessing weapons of mass destruction, possessing a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute, and other offenses, the District Attorney's Office said Friday.

Water ice, soft-serve, and pierogis? It's a Port Richmond thing. When Stanley and Lisa Kopertowski reopened the Aramingo Avenue food stand Hank's, they drafted chef Stan Pliszka (Hinge Cafe), who has a solid handle on the Polish foods he grew up on. Most of his food, from kielbasa to beef, is sourced to the neighborhood. You have to try his pierogi - homemade farmer's cheese, sauerkraut, and dough, which his mother, Kathy, and fiancee, Cheryl Guy, come in to prep. Pierogis ($10 a dozen)

No bullets were flying Wednesday afternoon to spark a raucous community meeting like the one held two weeks ago at a Port Richmond tavern, but about 40 neighbors stuck to their guns and met again Wednesday night. At the Cornerstone Community Church, at Frankford and Allegheny avenues, the group, unofficially named the Port Richmond West Community Action Network, held its first official meeting, including speakers from Philly3-1-1, CeaseFirePA, Town Watch Integrated Services and the police and fire departments.

Philadelphia police last year recommended bringing charges of witness intimidation against former Officer Richard DeCoatsworth, once hailed as a hero for his work on the force and charged over the weekend with rape, a high-ranking police official said Sunday. Capt. John Gallagher, a former commander of East Detectives now assigned to the department's Counter-Terrorism Operations, said the recommendation stemmed from allegations that DeCoatsworth, 27, had kidnapped, assaulted, and robbed a Port Richmond man who lived two blocks from him over an unpaid debt.

NO ONE gets out of this life alive. But not everyone thinks about that as often as Linda Belz does. She's the 30-year-old ovarian-cancer patient I wrote about last week, whose doctors can do no more for her. She will die soon. Her final wish is to raise enough money to pay her funeral expenses so that her grieving parents won't have to. When I visited with Linda at Vitas Hospice in Frankford, the bombs were eight days away from exploding at the Boston Marathon. So it was easy to forget, for the moment, that life can end in an instant the way it did for the three Boston victims.

A PORT RICHMOND man has been arrested and charged in a fatal hit-and-run that occurred almost two years ago, police said. Robert Sickman, 26, of Almond Street, surrendered to police Tuesday. He is accused of driving the car that struck William McCue, 28, on April 10, 2011. McCue was walking home when a passing car struck him as he crossed Richmond Street near Sergeant, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, but the driver fled. Police found the vehicle the next morning and identified Sickman as the driver, but were unable to locate him until Tuesday.

OFFICIALS reported Monday that two people were injured after a piece of equipment malfunctioned at a plant in Port Richmond, spilling about 50 gallons of hazardous material into the Delaware River. The spill happened about 11 p.m. Sunday at a Kinder Morgan Company facility along the 3300 block of North Delaware Avenue. Officials said 50 gallons of phenol, which is also known as carbolic acid, spilled into the river. Two workers were taken to the hospital after being exposed, and were reported to be in stable condition.

A 31-YEAR-OLD Port Richmond man was held on $3 million bail Friday after police who were serving a drug warrant at his house discovered what appeared to be pipe bombs inside. Cops found the explosives early Thursday morning at the house, on Thompson Street near Huntingdon, and arrested Nicholas Suozzo, the District Attorney's Office said. The bomb squad was called to clear the house and remove the devices, authorities said. He's facing a slew of charges, including possessing weapons of mass destruction, possession of an offensive weapon, risking catastrophe and drug possession.

A Port Richmond man was being held Friday on $3 million bail after authorities said they found explosives in his house. Nicholas Suozzo, 31, of the 2600 block of East Thompson Street, was arrested Thursday after police, serving a narcotics warrant on his house, found incendiary devices believed to be pipe bombs. Suozzo was charged with possessing weapons of mass destruction, possessing a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute, and other offenses, the District Attorney's Office said Friday.

Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat: Craig LaBan: To mark St. Paddy's Day, I had Colcannon at the Black Sheep near Rittenhouse Square . . . We can talk about other places to celebrate the holiday, as well as a number of hot topics . . . like the continued rise of ValeMar – that power couple from Midtown Village, Valerie Safran and Marcie Turney, whose 13th Street domain keeps growing. Not only are they swapping their BYO status for a liquor license at Lolita, but taking over the 13th and Locust space that previously housed Rhino Bar and Fish.

Beth Kephart is the author of 14 books, and "Handling the Truth," a book about the making of memoir, is due out in August I take the Blue Route south and I-95 north. The day is gray and bitter, the lanes too aggressively pocked. Beyond me the Delaware River crawls, heavy with the exhaust of bedlam truckers and implacable with its reminisce of pirates, oil tanks, and whale bones. At the Allegheny/Castor Avenues exit I veer right, then left toward the heart of Port Richmond. This was collier country once - home to coal traders, but also shipbuilders, cargo holders, and dockhands.

The union representing 14,500 dockworkers in East and Gulf Coasts ports, including Philadelphia, and management for shipping lines and port employers are lurching toward a possible crippling strike next week. Negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and employers represented by the U.S. Marine Alliance broke off Tuesday. If the stalemate is not resolved, workers between Maine and Texas could walk off the job Dec. 30. The bargaining is for a new master contract governing containerized cargoes - commodities shipped in 20- or 40-foot containers.