INQUIRER: The District Attorney’s Office is deciding whether a city firefighter and his son will face murder or manslaughter charges in the beating death of a 54-year-old Northeast Philadelphia man this month in what police called a “road rage” fight. Gerard M. Shaffer, 47, and his 21-year-old son, also Gerard [NOT pictured, above], were arrested Monday on charges of aggravated assault and related offenses in connection with the fight that left Mark Wallace in a coma. Wallace died Tuesday after relatives had him removed from life support. The elder Shaffer, a 23-year veteran of the department, was a member of Ladder 34 in the Northeast. He was suspended Monday for 30 days with the intent to dismiss, Fire Commissioner Lloyd M. Ayers said. Police said Wallace and the Shaffers crossed paths around 7:30 p.m. April 8 at Knights and Fairdale Roads, near where they all lived. The elder Shaffer, who was off duty, was driving a car in which his son was a passenger, and Wallace walked in front of them. “They got into an argument over right of way,” Philadelphia Police Lt. Frank Vanore said. “What started as verbal turned physical.” Police said both Shaffers pummeled Wallace until he was unconscious and bleeding from the head. MORE
UPDATE: The District Attorney’s Office is charging 47 year old Gerard Schaffer Sr. with Murder, Conspiracy, Hindering Apprehension and other related charges for the April 8, 2010 beating death of 54 year old Mark Wallace. Schaffer, an off duty Philadelphia Firefighter, and his son 21 year old Gerard Schaffer Jr. are accused of beating Wallace to death after he walked in front of their car at the intersection of Knights and Fairdale Roads.
RELATED: The Montgomery County driver accused of shooting a fellow commuter earlier this month was found dead this afternoon in his Gilbertsville home, according to reports. John Yannarell, 50, was supposed to appear for a preliminary hearing in Collegeville for allegedly shooting a female driver on Route 422 on April 9. Authorities were also going to charge him in two other road-rage incidents. When he failed to appear for the hearing, police launched a manhunt and a tactical team was sent to Yannarell’s home execute a search warrant. MORE
ALSO: A Philadelphia police officer was arrested Wednesday on charges that he exposed himself to a woman while on duty. Officer Joseph Harvey, a 
seven-year member of the force, also has been suspended for 30 days with intent to dismiss. Harvey, 35, is charged with indecent exposure, official oppression and false imprisonment, police said. Harvey was assigned to the 24th District and was working on an investigation with other officers around midnight Oct. 9, said Chief Inspector Anthony DiLacqua, head of the Internal Affairs Division. The officers were in an apartment in Kensington, investigating criminal activity, when Harvey and a woman came to be alone in a room. The woman, who DiLacqua said is in her early 20s and does not live at the apartment, later told police that Harvey had exposed himself to her and performed an indecent act. He did not touch or injure the woman, DiLacqua said. MORE
ALSO: A Lansdale woman convicted in February of indecent assault on a minor eight years ago has been arrested and charged with engaging in intercourse with a 14-year-old boy. Erica Dillon, 31, of the 800 block of Walnut Street, was awaiting sentencing on charges of indecent assault and child endangerment in the first case when she had sex with the boy April 5 in the bedroom of her home, police said. Her live-in boyfriend, Antonio Morano, 28, allegedly watched. MORE
ALSO: Authorities in Montgomery County, Pa. are hoping to learn more about three people who are now in custody after police found an armed camp in 
the woods in Upper Dublin. Police say it was a stray golf cart that led them to the encampment just off Twining Road. Officials say that two men and a woman were living there for about three weeks, when police found a .22-caliber rifle, a homemade bomb, and other weapons. At this point, Montgomery County district attorney Risa Ferman says, they’re not sure how the three are connected, but the cache of weapons that included the rifle, a pellet gun, and two machetes is troubling. MORE