Kathy Matheson

A grocery store employee said Thursday that he is thanking God and his belt buckle for saving him from a stray bullet that smashed through the market’s front door.

A couple accused of stealing a New Jersey police car Tuesday led authorities on a wild, two-state chase that injured one officer, wrecked several vehicles and led to the theft of a second cruiser in Philadelphia, law enforcement officials said.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey says a pilot program designed to prevent criminals from becoming managers of a person’s Social Security benefits has screened out dozens of people convicted of fraud and violence.

A paroled killer targeted mentally disabled adults in a scheme to steal their Social Security benefits, confining them like “zoo animals,” forcing some into prostitution and causing the deaths of two victims through abuse and neglect, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

A 5-year-old girl was blindfolded, forced to change out of her clothes and made to hide under a bed after being abducted from her class at a public school, police said Wednesday.

The 911 call from Chevonne Thomas was rambling and incoherent, but authorities said she made one thing clear: Her 2-year-old son had been stabbed, and ‘‘I did it.’’

A lawyer defending a man accused in a series of sex-related stranglings that terrorized a Philadelphia neighborhood sought Monday to have his client’s graphic confessions thrown out.

A man suspected of trying to kidnap a 10-year-old girl off a sidewalk near her Philadelphia home was arrested Thursday after widely publicized surveillance video of the attack led him to surrender, authorities said.