Friends and relatives of Christina Korbe say she thinks of nothing but her children while she sits in jail on charges of killing an FBI agent and grieves for his family. But her words, taped during jailhouse phone calls and played during her federal detention hearing Monday, paint a different picture. Korbe, 40, of Indiana Township threatened to kill two people during calls and confessed to using cocaine. She joked with a relative about appearing on "Oprah" one day to talk about her ordeal. She told a cousin she is regarded as a hero and celebrity in the Allegheny County Jail. [continues 761 words]
Twenty years ago, Roy put a crack pipe to his lips, flicked a cigarette lighter and breathed the sweet-smelling combination of powder cocaine and baking soda deep into his lungs. A lifelong drug user who has struggled with addictions to marijuana, heroin and alcohol since age 10, Roy said it was crack that took over his life. He married and divorced four wives. Only two of his five children speak to him. He lost every job he tried to hold onto, and has been homeless on and off for years. [continues 2031 words]
Rival groups and drug dealers are using Pittsburgh's streets to fight a war, with retaliatory shootings that put innocent people at risk, police and violence prevention experts said Tuesday. A fatal shooting last month outside a busy Downtown daycare center -- which led to a Washington County man being gunned down in a case of mistaken identity -- was one of 23 homicides in the city this year, compared to 13 at this time in 2006, according to Pittsburgh police. In April, city police responded to nine homicides and more than a half-dozen shootings that critically injured the victims. [continues 433 words]
A potent mix of heroin and fentanyl - which drew headlines last month by killing nine people in Allegheny County - continues to circulate in the region, police say. "This is seriously dangerous stuff," said Special Agent Steven Robertson of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's headquarters in Washington. "Heroin is such an addictive drug that it doesn't seem to matter to some people that it could be mixed with fentanyl and kill them. They want that ultimate high." That search for the ultimate high Monday led to the overdose of a 50-year-old man in Highland Park, who was revived by paramedics. Lab tests on the heroin used in the overdose will determine if it contained fentanyl -- a painkiller that experts believe is 100 times more powerful than morphine. [continues 755 words]
A potent mix of heroin and fentanyl -- which drew headlines last month by killing nine people in Allegheny County -- continues to circulate in the region, police said. "This is seriously dangerous stuff," said Special Agent Steven Robertson of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's headquarters in Washington. "Heroin is such an addictive drug that it doesn't seem to matter to some people that it could be mixed with fentanyl and kill them. They want that ultimate high." That search for the ultimate high Monday led to the overdose of a 50-year-old man in Highland Park, who was revived by paramedics. Lab tests on the heroin he used will determine whether it contained fentanyl, a painkiller experts believe is 100 times more powerful than morphine. [continues 722 words]
Police across Pennsylvania are working to identify the source of a recent spate of heroin overdoses and warning users about the unusually strong drug laced with the painkiller fentanyl. Two people died in Pittsburgh on Monday -- bringing the total fatal overdoses here to three since Sunday. At least 36 people have overdosed in Allegheny County since the drug emerged on the streets on Friday, authorities said. "This is a very serious, major problem and we're going to be seeing it for a while, until the supply runs out," said Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki. "We're doing all we can to get a handle on it and get it off the street." [continues 862 words]
When people first started asking Ivan Harris if he stocked Salvia divinorum at his Squirrel Hill smoke shop, he had no idea what they wanted. "I hadn't heard of it," said the owner of the Continental Smoke Shop Ltd. on Murray Avenue. "But I did some research, and this stuff looks pretty bad." Salvia divinorum (pronounced SAL-vee-ah div-en-OR-um) is a recreational drug that people can obtain legally in Pennsylvania and most other states -- at least for now. [continues 956 words]
TAMPA - In the hot midday sun, Ace, a 3-year-old German shepherd, circled a sedan, all senses on alert. It wasn't long before the black Hillsborough County K-9 dog found his quarry. He stood on his hind legs and began scratching furiously on the car's hood. "Good boy, good boy," said Ace's handler, sheriff's Deputy Mike Roberts, tossing his partner a black leather chew toy as reward for sniffing out cocaine hidden in the car's engine. [continues 604 words]
WINTER HAVEN - Hardly a day goes by in Polk County when a routine traffic stop doesn't net methamphetamine, authorities say. And law enforcement officials are uncovering more and more methamphetamine manufacturing labs in homes and vehicles across the county, sheriff's Lt. John Cook said. "There is no question that meth is the drug of choice in Polk County," Cook said. Cook oversees the sheriff's office narcotics division and is a member of the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area unit, which comprises local, state and federal agents. [continues 951 words]
For the second time in as many weeks, Polk County detectives and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration made a major methamphetamine bust, leading to the arrest of one man. Agustin Miranda Gutierrez, 38, of 219 Cherry Road in Fort Meade, was arrested Thursday night and charged with trafficking in methamphetamine in excess of 200 grams and trafficking in heroin in excess of 200 grams, said Mark Baughman of the DEA Tampa Task Force. Investigators with the Polk sheriff's office Bureau of Special Operations and agents with the DEA Tampa Task Force seized 12 pounds of methamphetamine and one pound of heroin from Gutierrez' mobile home. Baughman said the methamphetamine has a street value of more than $500,000 and the heroin, about $50,000. [continues 313 words]
The Lakeland Police Department has cleared four officers who shot a man to death in December, but a review board recommended further training for all officers. Chief Sam V. Baca released his findings Friday concerning the Dec. 16 shooting death of Robert W. Laird III, 21, of 7706 Palm Brook Drive, Tampa, as well as the findings of a lethal force review board. The board is made up of police department personnel and a legal adviser. ``The department regrets any loss of life; unfortunately, in this instance, it was necessary to take a life to neutralize a deadly threat and protect the officers from death or great bodily harm,'' Baca wrote in his report. [continues 372 words]
