A Philadelphia man who allegedly used a stolen vehicle to try and run over a Chester County police officer on Thursday, May 19, is on the loose and has been deemed dangerous, said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan.
Hogan said he wanted the public to be aware that Tyrell A. Winchester, 28, is wanted for attempted murder and related charges, stemming from an incident late Thursday afternoon in Willistown Township.
“This suspect should be considered very dangerous,” Hogan said. “He used a stolen vehicle to try to run over a police officer. He should turn himself in to police immediately before someone gets hurt. If anyone has information on his whereabouts, call 911.”
According to the criminal complaint, a Willistown officer on routine patrol ran a registration check on Winchester’s vehicle, which came up stolen. The officer subsequently pulled up behind the vehicle, which had stopped in the Willistown Chase development. The officer activated his lights and as he exited his marked patrol vehicle, Winchester put his silver Mercury in reverse and rammed the police vehicle.
The impact broke a side window of the Mercury and caused the Mercury to get stuck temporarily. Winchester “freed the vehicle by rapidly accelerating in reverse” and then speeding toward the officer, who was outside his vehicle and had to dive over the trunk to avoid being struck, the complaint said.
A chase ensued on Route 3, and Winchester veered off the road quickly, crashed into a wooded area, and fled on foot. An employee at a nearby business recovered a backpack that Winchester dropped as he was racing through a horse pasture; it contained Winchester’s Social Security card, the complaint said.
Hogan said the state police, Willistown Township Police, the District Attorney’s Offices in Chester and Delaware counties and the Chester County Sheriff’s Office are working together to locate Winchester, who was last seen in the area of Ridley Creek State Park in Delaware County, Hogan said.
PennDOT has announced the following road projects, which are weather-dependent and could affect residents in the greater Chadds Ford area during the week of May 21 through May 28. Motorists are urged to allow extra time if they are traveling through one of the construction zones.
From Monday, May 23, through Thursday, May 26, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Route 52 will be closed between Pocopson Road and Creek Road in Pocopson Township for bridge repairs necessitated by a truck accident in March. Drivers will be detoured over Pocopson Road, Route 926 and Creek Road;
Lane restrictions will be needed on Monday, May 23, through Thursday, May 26, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Route 202 between Route 926 and Route 401 in Westtown, West Goshen, East Goshen, West Whiteland and East Whiteland townships for patching operation.
On Tuesday, May 24, patching is scheduled on Route 322 in both directions between Route 1 and I-95 in Concord, Bethel and Upper Chichester townships. Crews will be working from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Green Valley Road in Newlin Township is closed and detoured between Powell and Brandywine Creek roads due to structural deficiencies at the Green Valley Road bridge. No repair date has been scheduled.
Work is continuing on the project to widen Route 202, which is scheduled for completion in August 2016. Motorists should expect delays for traffic pattern shifts in Tredyffrin and East Whiteland townships.
Route 3 in East Goshen Township will continue to be the site of road reconstruction weekdays through Friday, June 3. Crews will be working between Mary Fran and Rose Hill drives from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.
Route 1 in Concord Township will be the site of utility installation through Sept. 1. Lane shifts will be needed on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the Mainline Health Care project between Brinton Lake Road and Applied Card Way.
Work will also continue on the Speakman Covered Bridge in East Fallowfield and West Marlborough townships. Frog Hollow Road between Concord Bridge and Strasburg roads will be closed and detoured until the estimated completion date of Sept. 20.
Burnt Mill Road in Kennett Township remains closed and detoured between Norway and Spring Mill roads while advance work continues on repairs to the Burnt Mill Bridge, which was closed on April 24, 2014. PennDOT reported progress last month on scheduling the work.
Work is continuing on the Birmingham Road Bridge in Birmingham Township, which closed in September due to structural damage. Posted 24-hour detours will be in effect between Lambourne Road and Stoney Run Drive through Aug. 31.
Daylong lane closures will be in place on Route 100 in Uwchlan and West Whiteland townships from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the installation of aerial fiber optic lines from Monday May 23, through Friday, May 27. The work covers an area between Swedesford Road and Sheree Boulevard.
Intermittent lane closures will be need on I-95 between the Philadelphia County and Delaware state lines for patching. The southbound side is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25, while the northbound side will be done from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 27.
Lane restrictions are scheduled on the eastbound George C. Platt Memorial Bridge (Route 291) between Bartram Avenue and 26th Street in Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 25, through Friday, May 27, and on Tuesday, May 31, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for bridge inspections.
If you want to report potholes and other roadway maintenance concerns on state roads, call 610-566-0972 in Delaware County or 484-340-3200 in Chester County, or visit www.dot.state.pa.us and click on “submit feedback.”
Andrew Wyeth (left) and Chris Sanderson relax by the Battle of the Brandywine marker on Route 1. Photo courtesy of the Christian C. Sanderson Museum, (c) 2016
In a new exhibit entitled “Simply Sanderson” at the Christian C. Sanderson Museum, the focus is on Chris Sanderson himself, not his collection.
Victoria Wyeth and Krista Bolmer, the Sanderson Museum’s marketing director, share a laugh during the opening of ‘Simply Sanderson.’
Recognizing the 50th year of Sanderson’s death, the exhibit explores the life of a man who was decidedly a pack rack with pride and sheds light on Sanderson’s life as a teacher, musician, historian, lecturer and friend of the Wyeth family.
At the opening on Wednesday evening, May 18, Museum Curator Chuck Ullmann said, “It was a struggle to decide which photographs and pictures of Sanderson, among the 3 to 4,000 we own, to include in the exhibit. In the end, we chose ones that have never been published before. Many of them have never even been exhibited before.”
Four or five pictures are on display in each of the themed-rooms of the museum that correspond with the items on display in cases and on the wall.
According to Krista Bolmer, marketing director for the Sanderson Museum, Sanderson’s collections are unique because they are three-dimensional. “We can hear his voice in every object label he wrote, we have the objects themselves, and we have the building where the objects were cherished,” she explained.
Tom and Sally Denk Hoey, a former president of the Sanderson, enter the museum.
A captivated audience listened as Victoria Browning Wyeth spoke about the Wyeth family’s relationship with Chris Sanderson. Wyeth, the only granddaughter of iconic artist Andrew Wyeth and niece of contemporary artist Jamie Wyeth, shared family stories, personal memories and unique insights into Wyeth family art gained through years of conversations with her grandfather and uncle about their work.
Wyeth juggled the challenge of addressing a sellout crowd seated in two rooms with aplomb saying, “I’ve spoken in prisons and mental institutions . . . this is nothing.” She stood in the doorway of the museum’s two front rooms and effortlessly turned to the left and right as she spoke.
Sanderson Museum Curator Chuck Ullmann shares some Chris Sanderson stories.
The energetic and witty Wyeth easily interacted with her audience. At one point, she started coughing, excused herself, and said dust in the room was probably the cause. As she sipped some water, someone quipped, “But it is historic dust.”
Wyeth spoke of Andrew Wyeth’s portrait of Sanderson and said it would have been much different if it had been painted a year later. Andrew Wyeth’s father was killed in a freak train and car accident in 1945. “After that traumatic event in his life, my grandfather’s painting style started to change,” she said.
Victoria Browning Wyeth captivates the crowd at the opening of ‘Simply Sanderson.’
Wyeth also spoke about the painting “Christmas Morning,” a work that depicts the death of Chris Sanderson’s mother. The painting speaks to the closeness of Sanderson and Wyeth, given that Sanderson would invite Andrew Wyeth into his home at such a private moment. The painting depicts Mrs. Sanderson on her deathbed, looking out the window and imagining she sees her former home and her beloved son Chris. When Andrew’s wife Betsy first saw “Christmas Morning,” she advised her husband to remove Chris.
In recounting her grandfather’s impish nature, Victoria Wyeth shared that her grandfather did as his wife asked, but told people with a wink, “Don’t worry; he’ll be back.” Wyeth knew that, in a process called “pentimento,” the image he had painted over would eventually reappear, which it has done.
Sally Denk Hoey holds a photo of the first four presidents of the Sanderson Museum: Tommy Thompson (from left), Hoey, Andrew Wyeth and Richard McLellan.
The evening brought out both Sanderson and Wyeth supporters. Sally Denk Hoey, the fourth president of the Sanderson Museum, brought a photograph of past presidents, including the first president, Andrew Wyeth. Arthur “Casey” Cleveland III traveled from Palm Beach, Fla., and shared fascinating stories of growing up with the Wyeths in Chadds Ford during the reception that followed Victoria Wyeth’s lecture.
“Simply Sanderson” continues through Nov. 19. The museum is located at 1755 Creek Road in Chadds Ford. From March through November, it is open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free to members, $8 for adult non-members, $5 for children ages 6-12, and free for children age 5 and under accompanied by an adult.
Lora has a passion for art, gardening, yoga, music and dancing. She continues to research the life of locally born abolitionist and 1998 National Women's Hall of Fame inductee Mary Ann Shadd Cary. She is a dedicated community volunteer, working with the American Association of University Women, Wilmington, DE branch (programs chair), Chadds Ford Historical Society (former board member) and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
Lora lives in Birmingham Township with her husband Bill and son Brad. Daughter Erika lives in Pittsburgh with husband Bob and baby Wilhelmina. She is a former French, Spanish and ESL teacher, bilingual life insurance underwriter and public relations coordinator for Delaware Art Museum and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
The Cindy Foundation has made a $15,500 gift to Christiana Care Health System to support the Cancer Special Needs Fund at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute.
The fund provides patients with financial assistance for medical and related expenses not covered by health care insurance, said a Christiana Care press release.
“Cancer’s toll on families is not only physical and emotional, it’s also often financial,” Dr. Nicholas J. Petrelli, Bank of America endowed medical director of the Graham Cancer Center, said in the release. “The health system’s mission is to serve our community and to take care of the people we serve. At the Graham Cancer Center, we provide excellent clinical care and supportive services, and we connect patients with resources like our Special Needs Fund to ease the financial burden of cancer. The Cindy Foundation’s generous support enables us to help more patients during the most challenging time of their lives.”
Founded in 2009, the Delaware-based Cindy Foundation honors the life and memory of Cynthia “Cindy” DiPinto, a Delawarean who died of ovarian cancer at age 43. In the past seven years the nonprofit has supported efforts in awareness, education and research. Christiana Care is one of its major recipients.
“Since we started, the foundation has donated a total of $76,750 to the Graham Cancer Center’s Special Needs Fund,” said Delaware State Rep. Helene F. Keeley, a foundation founder and longtime friend of its namesake. “The health system is a major partner in the foundation’s cancer fighting efforts. It means a great deal to us that we can help this world-class provider offer a financial safety net for patients who might otherwise forgo care or incur debt while dealing with cancer.”
Cancer is one of the most expensive diseases for adults, according to recent research from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. After a diagnosis, patients frequently face unexpected out-of-pocket expenses that insurance does not cover, an extra output that can cause financial setbacks for families on limited incomes. In some instances, the impact on their financial health is long-term. A just published “Health Affairs” study finds that working-age cancer survivors or a member of their families often go into debt to pay for care, some even declaring bankruptcy.
Christiana Care launched the Cancer Special Needs Fund in 1999. Made possible through corporate, foundation and private donor support, this resource has provided more than 2,100 cancer patients with funds for assistance with discharge medications, transportation to and from appointments, bone marrow testing for potential marrow donors, dental care for patients with head and neck cancer and other unforeseen costs.
“Cindy was a dear friend, amazing person and fierce advocate for better cancer care, awareness and research,” said Kim Gomes, a political consultant for the Byrd Group, LLC, who helped start the Foundation. “This gift to Christiana Care is a way for everyone who loved her to keep her memory alive while also helping others battle this devastating disease.”
Hogan said he wanted the public to be aware that Tyrell A. Winchester, 28, is wanted for attempted murder and related charges, stemming from an incident late Thursday afternoon in Willistown Township.
