Latest news with #Vandergrift
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
'Disgrace of a mess': Children found living in filth-filled Vandergrift home while mother stayed with boyfriend, police say
A fight between children in Vandergrift led to authorities arresting a mother on multiple charges of endangering the welfare of children. Police were first called to an alley where four children between the ages of 16 and 9 were involved in an altercation. Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
5 days ago
- CBS News
Pittsburgh-area mom, grandma charged after 5 kids left without food or water in deplorable conditions, police say
Vandergrift police charged a mother and a grandmother with multiple counts of child abuse after they said five children were left in a home without food or water for days. Darla Updegraff walked into a filthy home on July 28 after police called her to stop by her grandkids' house. "Picture it being a hoarder house with a real bad, strong, disgusting animal smell," Updegraff said. "Not a condition where any child, whether it be my grandkids or it be any kid. I don't see how anybody can live like that." Court records said her five grandchildren, ages 9 to 16, were living at the home on Emerson Street with their mom, 35-year-old Heidi Beer, but Beer had allegedly left them alone for days and didn't respond when the children tried to contact her. Officers said feces and urine from dogs, rotten food, and garbage were all over the floors, with insects flying around as the area was dealing with temperatures in the 90s. In the criminal complaint, an officer said, "The odor was so strong my eyes were burning and nose began running. I kept gagging and then proceeded to vomit outside." "They were hungry, they were dirty, they stunk. It's just disgusting," Updegraff said. Police said the only food the children were getting was the free lunches at Kiski Area Upper Elementary School. As for water, they hauled it from the home of their maternal grandmother, 69-year-old Leslie Keller, about a mile away "using old cat litter containers," police said. KDKA went to talk to Keller at her home on Tuesday to ask her about the child endangerment charges filed against her and her stepdaughter, Beer. "The children were supposed to at least clean up after themselves, and they didn't even do that," Keller told KDKA. She told KDKA she was not aware of the charges. "Nobody has said anything to me about it. There have been no police here, nothing like that," Keller said. Keller said Beer deserves to face the consequences, also alleging Beer abandoned her children, and said she told Beer what she was doing wasn't right. KDKA's Lauren Linder asked Beer if being aware of the situation makes her culpable. "No, it doesn't," Keller said. According to court records, Beer's boyfriend also "beat [the kids] with belts, choked one of the boys," and even fired a pistol in the air. Officers also said the boyfriend asked Beer to abandon her kids and have a better life without them. Updegraff just wishes Beer had reached out for help. "I believe that she deserves everything she gets," Updegraff said. "I will do everything in my power to continue doing what I'm doing and keeping my grandkids safe." The Vandergrift police chief told KDKA the investigation is ongoing, but it's possible more charges could be filed in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.
CBS News
26-07-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Pittsburgh-area house with 20,000 rounds of ammo inside catches fire
A fire ripped apart a home in Westmoreland County on Friday morning, igniting thousands of bullets inside. Shots rang out as flames poured out of a home in Vandergrift. It was the sounds of the 20,000 rounds of ammo stored inside. "It was constant pops," next-door neighbor Don Cocco said. It was around 8 a.m. when Cocco smelled smoke and heard his neighbors screaming that the house next to his on Emerson Street was on fire. "When I came out, I seen all of the smoke in the eaves," Cocco said. They began to panic and banged on the front door, thinking the woman who lived there was home. Cocco said it wasn't long before she pulled up to the home as flames shot out of the side air conditioner. "The flames were pretty high, and I was scared for my house," Cocco said. Shortly after fire crews arrived, ammo started to take off. "It was very scary because, you know, nobody knew where they were going," Cocco said. Vandergrift #1 Fire Chief Randy Dunmire said he quickly pulled their crews out of the building. "It's just kind of like flying around some. It doesn't have a lot of velocity to it because it's not coming out of a barrel, but it still has enough from the powder," Dunmire said. Fire crews attacked the blaze from the outside for about 30 minutes until they knew all the ammo had exploded. The bullets traveled far, with some shell casings found about a half a block away. "We decided if we didn't hear any for 10 minutes, then it was OK to go in," Dunmire said. After knocking the fire down, crews did a lot of manual work, tackling fire in the walls and ceilings. In the process, they rotated crews due to the heat. "It was a dangerous situation for quite some time," Dunmire said. Dunmire said they saved some rifles and handguns, but many were destroyed. He called the house a total loss. They're in contact with the state fire marshal. Dunmire said he's not ruling on a cause, though he believes it was accidental. Cocco is just grateful everyone is OK. "I give all of the credit in the world to the fire departments. Unbelievable job they did," Cocco said.
