Cop on desk duty following post-concert fight charge

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania police officer has been restricted to desk duty during an internal investigation of an aggravated assault charge he faces for allegedly punching someone after a Kid Rock concert over the weekend at First Niagara Pavilion.

Altoona City Manager Omar Strohm said the City Council will take "appropriate action" after the criminal charge against 27-year-old Officer Matthew Plummer is resolved.

Plummer was charged Saturday by Hanover Township police after he allegedly punched a man who bared his buttocks at a bus that took Plummer, several other off-duty officers and 911 dispatchers to the show.

Altoona police Chief Janice Freehling said none of the seven or eight other Altoona officers on the bus acted inappropriately.

Plummer faces a preliminary hearing Sept. 26. But he also faces an internal police department investigation.

City Councilman Mike Haire said the council won't look into the matter independently because its members don't want to be tainted should Plummer be fired and exercise his right to appeal that decision to the council.

Hanover police have said they plan to charge the man who mooned the bus with disorderly conduct, but online court records show that charge had not been filed by Wednesday afternoon.

Hanover police have said someone may have thrown a bottle against the bus Plummer was in, though the man Plummer allegedly punched angrily denied doing that when confronted by Plummer. The man took a swing at Plummer and missed before the officer punched him, Hanover police said.

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