(Photos of Ronald Piper Courtesy of WPXI, Posted on Facebook on October 21st, 2025)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Butler, PA) Pennsylvania State Police are looking for forty-six-year-old Ronald Piper of Butler after he allegedly tried to intentionally hit a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper during a pursuit through two counties in Pennsylvania on Monday evening. According to a Pennsylvania State Police press release, troopers with the Kittanning and Butler Stations were involved in an incident that began in Butler County and then in East Franklin Township of Armstrong County. Piper attempted to strike a trooper who was standing off a road after that trooper deployed spike strips during the pursuit. Piper then reportedly drove into the woods and then ran away. Investigators have not found Piper yet after they tried to find him. Pennsylvania State Police also learned of a reported stolen vehicle from Bear Road in East Franklin Township at around 5 a.m. today and they think that Piper stole this vehicle after crashing. That stolen vehicle was later found damaged near Swartzlander Lane in Clearfield Township of Butler County on State Route 422. An active arrest warrant is now out for Piper’s arrest. According to online court records, Piper faces a dozen charges, including three counts of aggravated assault, fleeing and evading arrest. Anyone with information on either the location of Piper or information regarding this incident is asked to call 724-543-2011 and speak with Trooper Swartz of the Pennsylvania State Police Kittanning station.

(File Photo of Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that tomorrow night, weather permitting, overnight ramp inspection activities on I-376 (Parkway East) in the City of Pittsburgh, will occur. From 9 p.m. tomorrow night to 5 a.m. on Thursday morning, inspection activities, requiring a lane restriction on the ramp that carries Route 885 (Boulevard of the Allies) to eastbound I-376 will occur as needed and this ramp will stay open as this work occurs as crews from NBIS will conduct routine inspection work there.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: People queue outside the Louvre museum in Paris on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, although it remains closed for the day after Sunday’s jewels robbery. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

PARIS (AP) — The Paris prosecutor said Tuesday that crown jewels stolen in a dramatic weekend Louvre heist were worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million), but that the monetary estimate doesn’t include their historical value to France.

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, whose office is leading the investigation, said about 100 investigators are now involved in the police hunt for the suspects and gems after Sunday’s theft from the world’s most-visited museum.

“The wrongdoers who took these gems won’t earn 88 million euros if they had the very bad idea of disassembling these jewels,″ she said in an interview with broadcaster RTL. ″We can perhaps hope that they’ll think about this and won’t destroy these jewels without rhyme or reason.″

Also Tuesday, France’s culture minister said that the security apparatus installed at the Louvre worked properly during the theft.

Questions have arisen about the Louvre security — and whether security cameras might have failed — after thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels on Sunday morning.

“The Louvre museum’s security apparatus did not fail, that is a fact,” the minister, Rachida Dati, told lawmakers in the National Assembly. “The Louvre museum’s security apparatus worked.”

Dati said she launched an administrative inquiry that comes in addition to a police investigation to ensure full transparency ito what happened. She did not offer any details about how the thieves managed to carry out their heist given that the cameras were working.

But she described it as a painful blow for the nation.

The robbery was “a wound for all of us,” she said. “Why? Because the Louvre is far more than the world’s largest museum. It’s a showcase for our French culture and our shared patrimony.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Monday that the museum’s alarm was triggered when the window of the Apollo Gallery was forced.

Police officers arrived on site two or three minutes after they were called by an individual that witnessed the scene, he said on LCI television.

Officials said the heist lasted less than eight minutes in total, including less than four minutes inside the Louvre.

Nuñez did not disclose details about video surveillance cameras that may have filmed the thieves around and in the museum pending a police investigation. “There are cameras all around the Louvre,” he said.

Sunday’s theft focused on the gilded Apollo Gallery, where the Crown Diamonds are displayed. Alarms brought Louvre agents to the room, forcing the intruders to bolt, but the robbery was already over.

Eight objects were taken, according to officials: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife; a reliquary brooch; and Empress Eugénie’s diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch, a prized 19th-century imperial ensemble.

(File Photo: Caption for Photo: police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh background blur, Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto/z1b)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(North Beaver Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in New Castle reported via release today that two out of three drivers involved in a three-vehicle crash were charged by police after that collision occurred in North Beaver Township on Friday evening. Twenty-three-year-old Carlos Marin of New Castle was driving on State Route 18 at 7 p.m. without headlights during dusk driving fast. Marin hit the back of the vehicle of fifty-seven-year-old Kenneth King of New Castle, who was stopped behind the vehicle of seventy-three-year-old Beth Stachowiak of New Castle, who was waiting for traffic going northbound to pass so she can turn left from State Route 18 onto a driveway. The vehicles of Marin and King were disabled because of this collision and were towed from the scene by Del’s Towing before the scene was cleared. The vehicle of Stachowiak had damage to its back end in functional amounts. King, the passenger in his vehicle during the crash and Stachowiak also had suspected minor injuries and all of them complained about their injuries, so they either refused medical transportation or did not get medically transported. According to police, Marin was determined to be at fault, and he was charged for driving too closely to another vehicle and cited for numerous other offenses and King was charged for driving and operating a vehicle on a suspended license. The Wampum Police Department, the North Beaver Fire Department and NOGA EMS assisted on the scene of this crash.

(File Photo of a Police Siren Light)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A car crashed over a hillside after crashing through a fence in the Perry North neighborhood of Pittsburgh early this morning. The fence that was hit by the unidentified driver of that car had to be cut so the car could be pulled up from the embankment close to Vinceton Street. The driver allegedly told officers on scene that he lost his brakes prior to this crash. Medics put one person in an ambulance and took that person away from the scene. According to officials, this crash caused both airbags of the car that crashed to deploy. An investigation is being conducted to find out the cause of this crash, which is unknown at this time. 

(Photo of Daniel Simcox Courtesy of the Allegheny County Jail)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A recent announcement from the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office confirms that thirty-four-year-old Daniel Simcox of Pittsburgh, who is facing aggravated assault charges, was arrested after he did not show up for his trial. Simcox was also arrested by Pittsburgh police in September of 2024 with charges of aggravated assault as well as burglar and terroristic threats. According to police, these charges stem from anincident where Simcox assaulted an “acquaintance” of his ex-girlfriend, slamming them to the floors, kicking them in the head and ribs multiple times while verbally threatening to kill the victim.The Allegheny County Sherriff’s Office also noted that a bench warrant was issued for Simcox when he did not attend his non-jury trial at the end of July. Simcox is now in custody and is in the Allegheny County Jail after detectives from that Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office found out Simcox was living at a Beechview home along Broadway Avenue and responded residence yesterday.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: People queue outside the Louvre museum in Paris on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, although it remains closed for the day after Sunday’s jewels robbery. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

PARIS (AP) — The Louvre remained closed Monday, a day after historic jewels were stolen from the world’s most-visited museum in a daring daylight heist that prompted authorities to reassess security measures at cultural sites across France.

The museum’s staff asked dozens of visitors who were queuing in front of the glass pyramid entrance to leave. In a message posted on social media, the Louvre said visitors who have booked tickets will be refunded. It did not provide additional details. The Louvre will also be closed on Tuesday, its weekly closing day.

On Sunday, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said. The theft occurred about 30 minutes after the museum opened, with visitors already inside, and was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory.

It unfolded just 250 meters (270 yards) from the Mona Lisa, in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a professional operation that lasted just a few minutes.

French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged security failures on Monday.

“One can wonder about the fact that, for example, the windows hadn’t been secured, about the fact that a basket lift was on a public road,” he said on France Inter radio. “Having (previously) been interior minister, I know that we cannot completely secure all places, but what is certain is that we have failed.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez ordered prefects across France to immediately reassess security measures protecting museums and other cultural sites and enhance them if needed.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati said investigators are working on evidence found at the scene.

“We did find motorcycles and they have a license plate,” Dati said on news broadcaster CNews. “I also want to pay tribute to the security officers who prevented the basket lift from being set on fire. One of the criminals tried to set it on fire, but they forced him to flee. This allowed us to recover evidence at the scene.”

Officials said the heist lasted less than eight minutes in total, including less than four minutes inside the Louvre. “They went straight to the display windows, they knew exactly what they wanted. They were very efficient.” Dati said.

Dati stressed that a decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan that was launched earlier this year includes security improvements.

“When the Louvre Museum was designed, it was not meant to accommodate 10 million visitors,” she said.

The 700-million-euro ($760-million) plan is intended to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031.

Sunday’s theft focused on the gilded Apollo Gallery, where the Crown Diamonds are displayed. Alarms brought Louvre agents to the room, forcing the intruders to bolt, but the robbery was already over.

A worker in the Louvre filmed a person in the Apollo Gallery on Sunday morning wearing a yellow jacket and standing by a glass encasing, according to video viewed and verified by BFM television. It is unclear whether the person is one of the suspects.

Eight objects were taken, according to officials: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife; a reliquary brooch; and Empress Eugénie’s diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch, a prized 19th-century imperial ensemble.

One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said.

(File Photo of the Welcome to Monaca Sign in Monaca)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Monaca, PA) According to a Facebook post yesterday from the Center Township Volunteer Fire Department, their department will be conducting training at 3421 Broadhead Road tomorrow, Monday, October 27th and Wednesday, October 29th from 6-10 p.m. During that time period on all three of those days, there will be an increase of activity from both fire and emergency response vehicles and there will be no traffic restrictions or road closures in that Monaca location where this training will take place. The Center Township Volunteer Fire Department also reminds residents to drive with caution if you are in the area where they are conducting this training.