Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania man returns home after detainment in Turks and Caicos for ammo in his luggage
![Pennsylvania man returns home after detainment in Turks and Caicos for ammo in his luggage](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/05/Bryan-Hagerich-homecoming_06.jpg)
A Pennsylvania man arrived at the Pittsburgh airport Friday night after he was released from custody on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), where he had been detained for having ammunition in his luggage.
Bryan Hagerich — a 39-year-old husband, father of two and former professional baseball player — is one of five Americans arrested and detained on the islands since February for having stray ammunition in their luggage, a crime punishable up to 12 years on the islands.
The other detained Americans are Ryan Watson, 40, of Oklahoma; Sharitta Grier, 45, of Florida; Tyler Wenrich, 31, of Virginia; and Michael Lee Evans, 72, of Texas.
“Its just amazing how, just in the matter of 12 hours, looking at 12 years to now,” Hagerich told reporters Friday night after he landed in Pittsburgh. “My biggest concern is coaching my kids’ baseball games tomorrow, and that is such a relief.”
PENNSYLVANIA DAD DETAINED IN TURKS AND CAICOS TO RETURN HOME AFTER PAYING FINE FOR HAVING AMMO IN LUGGAGE
Bryan Hagerich is greeted by his family as he arrives back in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday, May 24, 2024. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
Hagerich said his detention was the “hardest time of my life” being separated from his family.
“As a father, as a provider, and to not be that figure in my family’s life, it’s a very tough pill to swallow,” he said.
He said the conditions of his detention were “tough” and the “darkest days” of his life. And while he said he is thankful to be home, he stressed that there are other Americans still in detention on the islands who he said “will be home soon.”
A Turks and Caicos judge issued a suspended 52-month sentence Friday morning to Hagerich, who pleaded guilty to possessing ammunition on the islands. He was also ordered to pay a $6,500 fine.
Hagerich told Fox News Digital on Thursday that he and his attorneys “made a very, very strong case” in his defense after he pleaded guilty.
Several lawmakers applauded the move to release Hagerich from custody on the islands, allowing him to return to his family in Pennsylvania. A bipartisan congressional delegation had visited TCI on Monday to urge government leaders to release the Americans detained for having stray ammunition in their bags.
AMERICANS ARRESTED IN TURKS AND CAICOS BUNK, PRAY TOGETHER WHILE AWAITING SENTENCINGS: ‘A BIG FAMILY’
![Bryan Hagerich walks with his family in the airport concourse](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/05/1200/675/Bryan-Hagerich-homecoming_04.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Bryan Hagerich was detained in Turks and Caicos after having loose ammo in his luggage and was released back to the U.S. on a suspended sentence on Friday. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
“This is great news,” U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said in a statement. “Bryan is coming home to his family. It was an honor to meet Bryan and the other detained Americans in TCI this week.”
“When we met with TCI officials a few days ago, they made clear they wanted this situation resolved,” Fetterman continued. “They recognized that Bryan and the other detained Americans are not gunrunners — they are just people who made a mistake. I’m grateful that the judge recognized that the right thing to do was to send Bryan home. I’m also grateful to the U.S. State Department which has been a critical partner in bringing Bryan home.”
Fetterman also said he is hopeful that TCI expedites the other cases of detained Americans so they can also be released soon and return to their families.
Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Guy Reschenthaler said while he is “overjoyed” to see Hagerich is returning to Pennsylvania and reuniting with his wife and children, “this terrifying situation should have never happened to him, or the four other Americans still awaiting sentencing.”
“As the Turks and Caicos government works to handle future cases, the British territory must ensure the safety and wellbeing of U.S. tourists. I won’t rest until Americans can once again set foot on their islands without putting their livelihoods at risk,” the congressional representative said.
FLORIDA WOMAN BECOMES 5TH AMERICAN DETAINED IN TURKS AND CAICOS FOR CARRYING AMMO
![Bryan Hagerich hugs family in the airport concourse](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/05/1200/675/Bryan-Hagerich-homecoming_03.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Bryan Hagerich arrived at the Pittsburgh airport Friday night after he was released from custody on the Turks and Caicos Islands. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Hagerich said Friday night he is “forever grateful” for lawmakers’ efforts advocating for his release, including the delegation that visited the islands.
“Never in a thousand years did I expect that kind of support,” Hagerich said.
The cases of the five Americans have slight differences, but all five were arrested while traveling home after security detected ammunition in their luggage.
Hagerich had stray ammunition from a previous hunting trip in one of the compartments of a large suitcase his family had loaded their belongings into for a family vacation.
Watson had stray ammunition, also left over from a hunting trip, in the lining of his carry-on bag. Grier had stray bullets in the lining of her bag after she recently purchased a firearm for her own protection.
Wenrich has similarly said he had no intention of bringing bullets onto the islands and had no idea he had two bullets in his travel backpack until security found them.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Pennsylvania
Bill to ensure access to contraception advances in Pennsylvania, aided by dozens of GOP House votes
![Bill to ensure access to contraception advances in Pennsylvania, aided by dozens of GOP House votes](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/04-27-2023-k-paynter-downtown-harrisburg-pa-captial-building-dome-weather-vane-4.jpg)
Planned Parenthood PA Advocates executive director Signe Espinoza called the proposal “an enormous shift toward control over our bodies.”
“We must have control over if and when we decide to start our families, but Pennsylvania has for too long allowed loopholes, exemptions and oversights to stand between us and our autonomy,” Espinoza said in a statement.
Rep. Krueger said in an interview Monday that she also was concerned about Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court decision on abortion access two years ago. Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court “should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents,” including cases that found married people have the right to obtain contraceptives, people can engage in private, consensual sex acts and the right to same-sex marriage.
A state law could help people obtain contraceptives if federal law changes, Krueger said.
“We have seen that access to reproductive health care, including contraception, is coming down to a state’s rights issue,” Krueger said.
In other states, contraception has been a politically contentious issue. A review earlier this month by the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for abortion access, found several states have proposed or enacted laws to reduce access to contraception this year.
KFF, a nonprofit that studies health care issues, said in May that 14 states have legal or constitutional protections for the right to contraception, with six states and Washington, D.C., enacting them since the high court’s decision on abortion in June 2022.
Pennsylvania
Pa. woman who drowned after being swept over waterfall in Glacier National Park is ID’d
![Pa. woman who drowned after being swept over waterfall in Glacier National Park is ID’d](https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/resizer/v2/ENNPVT7HEBAILPOJTGZWNTBSLM.jpg?auth=ae6ee71154605f3d0d14626ee27547b52589449aff7199c62704aa067d22f7ab&width=1280&quality=90)
A 26-year-old Pennsylvania woman drowned after being swept over a waterfall on the east side of Glacier National Park in Montana, park officials said.
National Park Service officials on Tuesday identified the victim as Gillian Tones from North Apollo in western Pennsylvania’s Armstrong County. She was remembered as caring and kind, triblive.com reported.
Tones fell into the water above St. Mary Falls at around 5:20 p.m. Sunday. She was washed over the 35-foot (11-meter) tall waterfall and trapped under water for several minutes, the park said in a statement.
Bystanders pulled Tones from the water and administered CPR until emergency responders arrived. She was declared dead at 7 p.m., park officials said.
The death is under investigation, and an autopsy was planned.
Her name was initially withheld until family members could be notified.
Drowning is one of the leading causes of death in Glacier National Park, according to the National Park Service.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.
Pennsylvania
Conestoga Road Closing Weekdays For 2 Months In Radnor: PennDOT
![Conestoga Road Closing Weekdays For 2 Months In Radnor: PennDOT](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/22896833/20240625/103022/styles/patch_image/public/roadclosed___25103005562.jpg)
RADNOR TOWNSHIP, PA — Conestoga Road in Radnor Township will have a weekday closure due to Aqua Pennsylvania work for about two months, PennDOT said.
According to PennDOT, a weekday closure is scheduled on Conestoga Road between Lowrys Lane and Glenbrook Avenue in Radnor.
The closure will be in place weekdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday, July 1 to Friday, Aug. 30,
During the closure, drivers will be detoured, using Sproul Road/Route 320, Lancaster Avenue/U.S. 30, and County Line Road.
Local access will be maintained up to the work zone.
Drivers are advised to allow extra time when traveling through or near the work area because backups and delays will occur.
All scheduled activities are weather dependent.
-
News1 week ago
Joe Biden, Barack Obama And Jimmy Kimmel Warn Of Another Donald Trump Term; Star-Filled L.A. Fundraiser Expected To Raise At Least $30 Million — Update
-
News1 week ago
It's easy to believe young voters could back Trump at young conservative conference
-
World1 week ago
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 842
-
World1 week ago
Swiss summit demands 'territorial integrity' of Ukraine
-
World1 week ago
Protesters in Brussels march against right-wing ideology
-
News1 week ago
A fast-moving wildfire spreads north of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations
-
World1 week ago
Al-Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for June attack in Burkina Faso
-
Politics1 week ago
Judge rules Missouri abortion ban did not aim to impose lawmakers' religious views on others