PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two more people have been charged in connection with the airport parking garage shooting that killed a Philadelphia police officer and wounded another last week, authorities announced Wednesday, saying they now have in custody all three suspects who were sought in the attack. A fourth suspect was killed.

Alexander Batista-Polanco, 21, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Hendrick Peña-Fernandez, 21, of Pennsauken, New Jersey, were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, First Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said at a news conference.

It was unclear if the suspects have attorneys. No listed telephone numbers for them could be found Wednesday and a spokesperson for the Defender Association of Philadelphia declined to comment.

A third suspect, 18-year-old Yobranny Martinez Fernandez, was arrested on Monday, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and brought to Philadelphia, authorities said. Martinez Fernandez is from Camden County, New Jersey, and was being held in that state on a fugitive warrant. All three suspects were charged with murder and attempted murder, according to Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore.

A fourth suspect, 18-year-old Jesus Herman Madera Duran, was shot during the confrontation and died at a hospital after being dropped off by his cohorts, police said.

Officers Richard Mendez and Raul Ortiz had just started their shift about 11 p.m. last Thursday when they heard breaking glass and saw several people breaking into a car in the parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport. A confrontation ensued, and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot.

Mendez, 50, who had been on the force for more than two decades, was shot four times and pronounced dead at a hospital. His handcuffs were placed on Martinez Fernandez at the time of the suspect’s arrest, a symbolic practice used when officers are killed. Ortiz, a 20-year veteran of the force, was shot once in the arm and was released from the hospital on Saturday.

The suspects fled in an SUV reported stolen a week ago that was later seen at a hospital Thursday dropping off Madera Duran, who had been shot in the chest, abdomen and left arm. He was later pronounced dead.

In addition to the three prime suspects, police are pursuing others who either assisted the suspects or tried to obstruct the investigation, Vanore said.

“We had people burning a vehicle. … We had people who helped rent hotel rooms that weren’t the people staying in them, and we had people who knew where people were and didn’t tell us,” he said.

Police believe one of the suspects alone was responsible for firing the bullets that hit the two officers and Madera Duran, Vanore said, but he said it would be up to the district attorney to confirm the information after investigating the evidence further. He said police believe the person fired his gun as the officers were trying to detain at least one of the other suspects.

“Someone came behind (Mendez) and fired a weapon,” he said.

Investigators are still searching for the slain officer’s gun, which they don’t believe was fired, Vanore said.

In a statement read aloud by family friend and Philadelphia City Council member Quetcy Lozada, relatives of Mendez said they were “relieved and grateful” for the arrests.

“As a family, we are grieving and are facing personal trauma through this murder, as are the officers who worked with Ritchie … and as we do, each officer of the 25th police district and the airport unit as well as across the city continue to put their uniforms on every day and continue to protect and serve our city.”

Police had offered a reward of at least $237,400 for information leading to arrests in the case, including $30,000 from two local police unions, $20,000 from the city, and funds from businesses and other police groups. Authorities will comb through the tips they received to determine how the money will be disbursed, said Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford.

Stanford noted last week that the shooting came amid the unrelated deaths of two other officers and only a week after three other officers were shot and wounded while responding to a call. He called last week’s shooting “a numb, numb moment for us.”

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro will sign budget-related legislation passed Wednesday to boost Medicaid subsidies for Pennsylvania’s hospitals and ambulance services, provisions that have been stuck in a wider monthslong stalemate.

The bill headed to Shapiro’s desk after passing the House 199-4, a day after it passed the Senate unanimously Tuesday. The votes came amid ongoing partisan disputes since July over some remaining elements of the state’s $45 billion budget plan.

Shapiro’s office said the Democrat will sign the bill to deliver “critical funding” for emergency management services, hospitals and nursing homes.

Under the bill, lawmakers reauthorized an assessment on hospitals that’s expected to draw down roughly $1.4 billion in matching federal Medicaid dollars this year. It then redistributes the money to favor hospitals that treat higher proportions of Medicaid enrollees.

Meanwhile, the bill boosts Medicaid reimbursements for ambulance services by a projected $126 million a year in federal and state aid. The reimbursement includes ground and air transportation.

Under the provision, the state must start reimbursing emergency medical service agencies for every mile traveled with a patient who is covered by Medicaid. Currently, the state reimburses for travel only beyond 20 miles with a Medicaid enrollee.

The state also will boost Medicaid reimbursements for ambulance services to the Medicare rate, if that rate is higher than the Medicaid rate. In some cases, that could mean more than doubling the current $4 per mile reimbursement rate, lawmakers said.

The bill also provides a legislative fix to Medicaid reimbursement rates for nursing homes that the facilities had sought to avoid volatility in new rates set by the state. Nursing home advocates have warned that the new reimbursement rates could put some facilities out of business.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced $73,075 in fines yesterday to three companies for various offenses throughout the state. 

The biggest debtor from yesterday’s fines is Stadium Casino Westmoreland RE, LLC, who operates Live Casino Pittsburgh located in Greensburg. Stadium Casino is being fined $30,000 on two separate violations; $10,000 for allowing an individual under the age of 21 to access the casino floor and play slot machines, and an additional $20,000 for two instances in which individuals who were on the Board’s Casino Self-Exclusion List were permitted to gain entrance onto the gaming floor and gamble.

The largest collective fine was levied to Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc, who was fined $25,000 for not providing the Gaming Control Board with ownership structure changes involving its five VGT Truck Stop Establishment locations throughout the commonwealth.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed another bill to give an earlier date for its 2024 presidential primary, an effort that has become drawn out and politically charged in a battleground state still weathering former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about a stolen 2020 election.

The bill would move up the date by one week, from April 23 to April 16, and passed with a slim margin of 104-99. However, it faces an uncertain future.

The state Senate’s Republican majority has insisted that the date be moved up by five weeks to March 19, and Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, reiterated that Wednesday, calling the House bill “too little, too late.”

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration this week recommended that lawmakers move it to April 9 as the date that “presents the fewest conflicts among potential primary dates.”

Meanwhile, counties have warned for two weeks that they don’t have enough time to handle the tasks associated with moving next year’s primary election. Further, they said that moving the primary election date at this point puts undue pressure on election staff and raises the risk of challenges if the election isn’t run perfectly.

Initially, lawmakers were motivated to change the date to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover. Senate Republicans then proposed moving it to March 19, saying that would also make the late primary state more competitive in 2024’s presidential primaries.

However, critics say a five-week shift makes it difficult for counties to change plans and harder for primary challengers to campaign in 2024’s election contests. Plus, critics say, presidential nominees will be all but settled by March 19, anyway.

The House earlier this month countered with a proposal to move the date to April 2, two days after Easter. But Senate Republicans echoed the concerns of county election officials who say the nexus with Easter will make it difficult to get voting machines and election materials into churches that also serve as polling places.

The average price of gas is down this week, dropping to a price of $3.84 for an unleaded gallon across Western Pennsylvania. The average is down six cents from $3.90 a week ago, and fifteen cents below the average of $3.99 one year ago.

However, Beaver County’s average of $3.94 per gallon is ten cents higher than the Western PA average, and it is the highest regional total throughout AAA East Central’s coverage area. It is one of only two regions above $3.90, with the Mercer area clocking in at $3.91 this week. Furthermore, Butler’s average of $3.87 and the average of $3.86 in the Pittsburgh region are both higher than the overall average of $3.84.

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.797      Altoona
$3.941      Beaver
$3.761      Bradford
$3.811      Brookville
$3.874      Butler
$3.872      Clarion
$3.862      DuBois
$3.841      Erie
$3.831      Greensburg
$3.852      Indiana
$3.871      Jeannette
$3.879      Kittanning
$3.850      Latrobe
$3.753      Meadville
$3.912      Mercer
$3.685      New Castle
$3.882      New Kensington
$3.863      Oil City
$3.860      Pittsburgh
$3.853      Sharon
$3.865      Uniontown
$3.881      Warren
$3.840      Washington

Trend Analysis:

Domestic pump prices maintained their daily decline despite the uncertainty in the oil market in the days since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel. Oil prices have risen a few dollars per barrel this week, but that is far from the roughly $40 per barrel temporary spike following last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine.  The critical difference is that Russia is a significant oil producer, while Israel and the Palestinian territories are not. The national average for a gallon of gas has fallen 10 cents since last week to $3.64. Today’s national average is 27 cents less than a month ago and 28 cents less than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.01 to 8.58 million barrels per day last week. On the other hand, total domestic gasoline stocks fell by 1.3 million barrels to 225.7 million barrels. Tepid demand, alongside descending oil prices, has pushed pump prices lower.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at gasprices.aaa.com.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — At least a month before a convicted murderer escaped from a southeastern Pennsylvania prison, eluding a massive manhunt for two weeks before he was recaptured, a prison guard had warned that he was planning an escape, according to an email exchange made public this week.

Hours after the Aug. 31 escape of Danilo Cavalcante from the Chester County Prison, a prison sergeant said in an email that Corrections Officer Hernandez “noted back in July that this inmate was planning an escape.” Sgt. Beavers said he was sending the email because he didn’t want “this to come back on us or Hernandez in any way.”

That email was sent to Capt. Griswold, who forwarded it shortly afterward to the prison’s acting warden, Howard Holland, with a note saying, “This was sent to me this afternoon and I have not forwarded it to anyone else. I am not sure how you want to move forward with this information internally.” Officials withheld the first names of those mentioned.

County spokesperson Rebecca Brain said in a statement that the three people mentioned in the emails, which were first reported by ABC News, “wanted to ensure Acting Warden Holland knew that information about an escape was previously noted.”

Before the escape, Brain said, security measures for an inmate identified as an “escape risk” were only “enacted and heightened” when the inmate was being taken off prison property. Cavalcante was “initially identified as an escape risk” when he was captured in Virginia and taken to the prison in 2021, and around the time of his trial, “unsubstantiated information from an unknown source was received reinforcing Cavalcante’s status as an escape risk,” Brain said.

Since the escape, Brain said, security measures inside the prison and during prisoner transport off prison property have been strengthened, including assigning different-color clothing for those deemed potential escape risks and monitoring by one or two corrections officers of each inmate outside of cells. Officials earlier vowed to enclose exercise yards and add more cameras and guards.

Cavalcante, 34, had been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in front of her children in 2021. Prosecutors say he wanted to stop her from telling police he was wanted in a 2017 killing in Brazil. He was awaiting transfer to a state prison when he scaled a wall and then jumped from a roof to freedom.

Cavalcante was captured after a two-week manhunt that left residents on edge and led to school closures right at the start of the academic year, as well as warnings for homeowners to lock their doors and blocked roads over the busy Labor Day weekend. He is now being held in a state prison and is due in court next month on an escape charge.

(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)

39-year-old Raphael Johnson of Aliquippa has been arraigned and remains in the Beaver County Jail on one misdemeanor count of simple assault, and 2 felony counts of possession of a firearm. Initial bond was set at $15,000.

Johnson was in possession of a semi-automatic handgun while arguing with his girlfriend on Monday morning, before forcibly shoving the girlfriend out of the house, locking the door, barricading himself and beginning what would turn into a seven-hour standoff with Aliquippa police and the Beaver County ESU.

Following his arrest, officers discovered that Johnson’s criminal background includes a guilty verdict on firearms violations in 2005, and another for armed robbery in 2010. The 2005 firearms violation prohibits Johnson from owning or possessing a firearm.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Johnson on Thursday, October 26, 2023 at the Beaver County Courthouse.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Proposals to let independent voters cast ballots in party nomination primaries passed a Pennsylvania House of Representatives committee Tuesday, raising the prospect that changes could pass and take effect in time for next year’s presidential contest.

Two bills passed with support only from Democrats and were advanced toward a full House vote.

The measures would allow independent voters to choose which political party primary they want to vote in. One of the two bills would also allow third party voters to vote in major party primaries if their party did not receive enough votes to be considered an official party.

Electors would be able to vote for the party nomination for public office candidates but not to elect candidates for party offices.

A majority of states have some form of an open primary, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. There are seven states with laws on the books similar to the two Pennsylvania bills, allowing unaffiliated voters to cast primary ballots.

More than 1 million Pennsylvanians are not affiliated with either party, making them the fastest-growing demographic within the state’s electorate, sponsors for the bills said. A large number of veterans and young voters are unaffiliated, sponsors said.

“For whatever reason that our primary elections suffer from so low turnout, there’s obviously something wrong with the status quo in Pennsylvania,” said Rep. Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia, a sponsor of one of the bills. “We have an opportunity to fix that, to overcome one of those barriers to increase voters in our primary and general election system.”

David Thornburgh, who chairs Ballot PA, a nonpartisan effort that supports ending the state’s closed primary system, called the vote historic.

“It’s time to let these voters have a say in who represents them and how their government is run,” he said in a statement.

The measures are part of an effort that has seen broader support — including a bipartisan group of former governors — to weed out the most extreme candidates before a general election.

“Candidates elected by those more extreme voters don’t have as much incentive to engage in the compromise and give and take that is so essential to effective governing,” the governors — Republicans Tom Ridge, Mark Schweiker and Tom Corbett and Democrats Ed Rendell and Tom Wolf — wrote in an open letter last month. “Adding independent voters to the primary mix will help.”

The proposed change comes on the heels of an attempt by the Legislature to move up the state’s 2024 presidential primary date, which would allow the state to have more say in deciding the presidential nominees, and avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover. The chambers have not agreed on a date — though it would come weeks sooner than the current date set in law, April 23 — and counties in Pennsylvania have warned it is too late to make a change to successfully run the election.

Uncertainty about the date of the primary adds to the challenges faced by the counties that run the nuts-and-bolts of Pennsylvania elections, said committee member Rep. Brad Roae, R-Crawford, who voted no on both proposals.

“The election process has gotten very frustrating, very contentious,” he said. “We can only throw so many changes at the poll workers and at the election office staffs at the same time.”

House Democrats who supported the bills said the election staff could get up to speed quickly.

Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, said Pennsylvania had to reach the particularly young and new voters who weren’t ascribing to either political party in growing numbers.

“It may change back again one day. But for now, allowing taxpaying citizens the right to vote, I believe, is the core of democracy,” said Conklin, the committee chair.

Eleven days after 57-year-old Anthony Talotta arrived at a Pittsburgh jail, he died from what his family says was a treatable and preventable infection from a foot wound. Talotta, who had autism and developmental disabilities, had been brought to the jail after a fight with a staff member at the group home where he lived.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Talotta’s family alleges doctors and medical staff at the Allegheny County Jail provided substandard care. The lawsuit claims jail policies prohibiting prisoners with mental illness or developmental disabilities from being housed in the medical unit violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by creating a system that makes it harder for them to get adequate medical care.

The lawsuit also notes that at least 17 people died at the medically understaffed jail in a two-and-a-half year timeframe from March 2020 to September 2022, the majority of whom had mental health or chronic medical needs.

“This lawsuit is intended not only to find full and fair justice for Anthony, but it is also intended to find justice for the individuals who came before him and took their last breaths at the Allegheny County Jail as well and to protect those who enter that jail after them with the same or similar chronic care and mental health needs,” said Alec Wright, an attorney representing Talotta’s family along with attorneys at the Abolitionist Law Center.

The lawsuit names the Allegheny Health Network, which is the contracted jail medical care provider; Allegheny County and Medical Director Donald W. Stechschulte. The lawsuit also names Wilson Bernales, a doctor who dismissed or went against hospital recommendations in his treatment of Talotta and who, at the time of his employment with Allegheny Health Network, had had his medical license revoked or suspended in eight states. The lawsuit also names the unknown staffing agency that screened and hired Bernales.

The lawsuit alleges negligence in hiring Bernales without thoroughly researching his license issues in other states. It also alleges denial or delay of medical care, lack of supervision and training, wrongful death and discrimination.

A message was left for Allegheny Health Network seeking comment. A spokesperson for Allegheny County declined to comment on an open lawsuit.

Bernales, who is now living in Nevada, said he has never had any malpractice issues and called the medical license issues in other states “administrative concerns.”

Attorneys for Talotta’s family said the jail’s medical staff was aware of both Talotta’s injury, which included fractures, a torn ligament and blistering from burns, and that because of his autism and intellectual disabilities he was unable to communicate his medical needs or care for himself.

Jeff Lagrotteria, Talotta’s cousin, said Anthony called him from the jail but never mentioned his injury.

“He just said he was scared and asked how he was going to get out of that place… so that’s what we were working on,” Lagrotteria said, adding that no one from the group home or the jail told him about the injury from the fight either. “For years, he was taken care of by the group homes, and there were no issues. As soon as he gets into the jail, he got treated so horribly he died within days.”

Luciana Randall, president of Autism Connection of Pennsylvania, works with families all over the state who have incarcerated family members with developmental disabilities. But she said there are no comprehensive numbers of how many people incarcerated in the state have autism or developmental disabilities because jails do not screen for them.

“Then, since jails are designed to punish, the people who work there are generally not willing to or able to support people with disabilities like this. I hear most often from those employees: Why are they here? They don’t belong here. Isn’t there somewhere else they can go?” Randall said, adding that there are no diversionary programs designed for people with these disabilities, but she believes there should be.

Talotta was taken to a hospital two times as his injuries worsened, according to the lawsuit. He was ordered not to put weight on his foot, but jail staff removed a walking boot and took away his crutches because those devices were not allowed in the mental health unit.

The hospital also prescribed antibiotics and daily dressing changes and wound care. But the antibiotics were never provided, jail staff confiscated the medical supplies given to him by hospital doctors and jail medical staff never performed any wound care, the lawsuit alleges.

On Sept. 20, Talotta was found clutching his chest and unable to speak, from what attorneys assert was sepsis. Bernales gave Talotta a Benadryl for allergies and sent him back to his cell, where he was found a few hours later frothing at the mouth and unresponsive, according to medical records cited in the lawsuit. He was taken to the hospital where he died the next day.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Bernales challenged that narrative and the medical records, saying Talotta was allowed to keep the wound care supplies. He said the boot and crutches were taken away because no prisoners are allowed to have them since they could be made into weapons.

“I had planned to do the dressing changes all in house. He went to the hospital twice to receive care,” Bernales said. “It’s not like a hospital. I can’t just go to the patient’s cell and provide care. If the corrections officers say we don’t have enough staff to bring him out of his cell to get care, then I have to listen.”

Talotta did not have any brothers or sisters, and his parents spent most of their lives making sure he would be taken care of when they died, setting up a trust so his needs were met. He spent his time with all of his cousins in their big Italian family, becoming the official sausage tyer when they would gather to stuff homemade sausages. He also enjoyed going to the zoo or to the movies, getting most excited about the popcorn.

“Nothing can bring Anthony back,” said cousin Tina Talotta. “But I just feel that if my aunt Lena was still here, she would want other people taken care of, that this never happen to anyone else.”