Latest news with #MikeMatrunics
CBS News
05-08-2025
- General
- CBS News
Pet bird found in Ligonier Township, some 50 miles from its home in Shaler
A small domestic cockatiel has two communities in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties atwitter. Thursday night in Allison Park, Samantha Ro was holding the door open to her house for her service dog to come inside when her bird, Smoke Scream, decided to fly through the door. "I was panicked because we have crows in the area," said Ro. "We have hawks, we have kites, we have owls, we have deer. And I was like, what happens?" Ro quickly went searching near her home and put the word out on social media that her 3-year-old cockatiel had flown the coop. "Smoke Scream is probably less than a pound," Ro said. "But he has been raised with from 6 weeks old with two fully grown Great Danes and a German Shepard. He is afraid of bubkes. He is afraid of absolutely nothing." And maybe it was this mighty little bird's fearlessness that, over the course of two days, allowed him to fly from his home in the Shaler neighborhood of Allison Park to Ligonier Township and the Village of Rector in Westmoreland County, some 50-plus miles away. Tired and hungry, he landed on a picnic table where people were eating and decided to help himself, and that's when Ligonier Valley police flocked to the scene. "I get asked questions about how to handle certain things at times, this is obviously one that I had no clue," Ligonier Valley Police Chief Mike Matrunics said. Matrunics says his department is no stranger to helping lost pets get reunited with their owners, but he admits a small-sized parrot was a first for them. They brought the bird back to the station, where he made himself at home, even helped with some paperwork. The police put it out on social media that he had been found, and missing animal groups in the region went to work, eventually connecting Ro to the department. Mama and baby bird were reunited on Sunday. "It is such a relief," said Ro. "It's like OK, home is home again. I was really blessed that this online community came together and even more blessed that these police officers were the kind of police officers that you want to be in the community." Now, as a thank you to the Ligonier Valley Police Department for finding Smoke Scream, Ro has changed the bird's name slightly to Smoke Scream Richard Ro. Richard was the name that the police gave to the bird before officers officially knew what his name was.
CBS News
30-06-2025
- CBS News
Escapes from Westmoreland County juvenile detention center happening too often, police chief says
On Monday afternoon, KDKA witnessed two juveniles being turned over to the Pennsylvania State Police by officers in Ligonier. According to police, the two teens broke out of the Outside In School and detention center in Fairfield Township sometime on Sunday and made their way on foot to nearby Wilpen in Ligonier Township, where they stole a gun from an unlocked car. Ligonier Valley Police Chief Mike Matrunics says they caught the two near Waterford late on Monday morning and recovered the gun. However, he said juveniles escaping from the Outside In facility happen far too often. In fact, he says, this is the second time a breakout has happened in less than a week. "Last Tuesday morning, there were two runaways. They actually stole a truck from Wilpen," said Chief Matrunics. "We used a Ford app that located them around Mt. Lebanon area, and we worked with them, and they were able to get the kids in custody." Outside In has seen its fair share of problems. In January, there was a riot at the facility involving 20 students that caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage, with several juveniles charged as adults. Chief Matrunics says that he has no say about what happens internally at a facility that is out of his jurisdiction. But he says once these kids escape, nine times out of 10, they head to the closest populated area, which is in his jurisdiction. This, he says, has to stop. "I would love to work with the Outside In and state police to try and figure out a notification possibility that if they do run, how can we notify the citizens to keep an eye out, lock doors. Because, let's face it, this is a community where people unlock their houses and doors," said Chief Matrunics. The chief says he is waiting for a final word from state police as to whether or not all the escapees have been accounted for, but he wants to caution everyone in the township, espcially in the Wilpen community, to be on guard, lock doors, cars, and firearms so they don't fall into the wrong hands.
