Newly elected State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, the first Muslim woman elected to the Pennsylvania legislature, has been arrested on corruption charges.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the charges this morning against Johnson-Harrell, who won the 190th District seat in a special election last March. They include theft, perjury and tampering with public records.

Shapiro said Johnson-Harrell has agreed to plead guilty to the charges and will face jail time. She turned herself in to authorities in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning.  Continue Reading

A police pursuit of a vehicle led to a crash this afternoon near 52nd and Catharine, according to reports. The pursuit, which began in Delaware county shortly after 4 p.m., ended in West Philadelphia when the suspects’ vehicle crashed. The police then chased two suspects on foot. One person was arrested, and another man remains at large, 6ABC reports.

One civilian was injured during the chase, according to reports. It’s currently unknown what led to the pursuit. Stay tuned for more information.

UPDATE: NBC reports that at least four people were hurt after the fleeing driver struck multiple vehicles near 53rd and Cedar.

U.S. Marshals have arrested a man wanted for the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Maurice McDonald inside a Mantua convenience store last month.

Kayree Reid, 28, was tracked down and arrested in Orange Park, Florida on Tuesday evening after a car chase, according to a report by CBS Philly.

Reid had been at large since the November 10 shooting, which happened inside J and R Perez Grocery at 38th and Aspen shortly before 8:30 a.m. McDonald was shot multiple times and died at the hospital the same day.

McDonald’s mother Tiffany Phelps spoke to ABC Action News in November and said that her son had just enrolled in community college and “was rebuilding his life” when he was targeted and shot inside the store.

Police have arrested three people, two females and one male, in connection with the robbery and assault that took place on Sunday, Aug. 2 at a SEPTA bus stop at 48th and Larchwood. As was reported earlier, a 46-year-old woman was waiting for a bus shortly after 9 a.m. when another unknown woman approached her, grabbed her purse and cut her arm with a box cutter, according to a police report. She then fled in a black 2014 Volkswagen Jetta, which police said was an Enterprise rental car operated by an unknown male.

Two days later, on Aug. 4, police spotted the same car and the male and female suspects in the Wynnefield neighborhood. After searching the male suspect, police found a black and yellow box cutter razor, which matched the description of the weapon used in the Aug. 2 robbery and attack. Police also searched the car and the suspects’ residence located in Wynnefield and found several receipts from purchases made with the victim’s credit cards after the robbery. Three suspects, 35-year-old Maryam Spain, 47-year-old Marvin Saunders, and a third, unidentified female who police say was using the stolen credit cards, were arrested on Monday, Aug. 10.

Jasmine Wright

Police have charged a 56-year-old handyman in the murder of West Philly resident and Drexel University graduate Jasmine Wright.

Police allege that James Harris, who police say has an extensive arrest record, sexually assaulted and strangled Wright, 27, in her apartment near 50th and Locust. Her body was found on July 15, about 24 hours after the murder.

Harris worked in the building but was fired about a week earlier, according to reports. Police say he still had a set of keys to the building and that his fingerprints and DNA were found on the scene.

Wright, who received her master’s degree at Drexel University’s School of Public Health a few weeks ago, was found beaten and strangled last Thursday afternoon in a bedroom of her third floor apartment after her father had tried to reach her by phone and finally asked the property manager to check on her.

Originally from New York City, Wright received her bachelor’s degree at Pennsylvania State University. She had lived in West Philly for about two years while she was attending Drexel’s graduate program. Her neighbors described her as a quiet and sweet girl, who mostly kept to herself. Her friends remember her as a funny and caring woman.

Harris had 31 prior arrests, police said, including sexual assaults. He was also convicted in 1982 for the murder of his own father. He had been in custody since July 19, when he was detained on suspicion of robbery and trespassing for re-entering the building.

Vickson Korlewala in the office of his company, Empower Liberia. Photo by Charles Mostoller/Metro

Metro reporter Sam Newhouse contacted us this morning to share his story about Liberian immigrant Vickson Korlewala, 58, a chemist and entrepreneur who lives near 55th and Market and who was wrongly arrested last year on robbery charges.

Korlewala and his wife Lorpu spent weeks in jail until charges were finally dropped. Both were arrested based on surveillance footage that shows a man who is clearly not Korlewala. He opens up to Newhouse about the experience.

“When I realized that it was not a joke, that I was in jail, it was the most fearful thing that ever happened to me in my life. Because it was wrong,” Korlewala said. “I’ve never been arrested in my life. I could see my whole future just went blank.”

Read the rest of Newhouse’s story here.