Local councilman resigns after video shows him speeding up to hit cats with car

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — Cats are a common sight in New Galilee, Beaver County.

“It’s no big deal just to run them over intentionally, I think it’s a big deal,” said William Bittner.

Bittner is upset. He shakes his head as he shows us his video. He tells Channel 11 it captures Councilman Frank Pagani Jr. driving down his road targeting the cats in the street.

“A vehicle turning the bend up here realizing the cats were on the road, sped up trying to run down the cats and he was going so fast that he ran the stop sign then proceeded to go right over there to his house,” Bittner said.

That video posted on Facebook launched an investigation by Beaver County Humane Society into what happened.

On Friday, officers went door to door looking for eyewitnesses and information on the three cats who were allegedly hit.  Channel 11 knocked on Pagani Jr’s door to get his side of the story, but no one answered.

Bittner said Pagani Jr. did call him after the video was posted stating he made a mistake and was giving up his council seat.

“You did the thing, you want to resign, you resign and so he did and he thinks that’s the end of it,” Bittner said.

But the anger from the community comes from years of implementing programs to trap, neuter and release the area’s cats.  Time and money, they feel is going to waste if no one is held accountable.

“You just can’t let an act like that go on without someone being charged. If this is allowed to go all the people that are helping. It costs 50 dollars a cat to do this so all those people donating money they will say it’s useless we will get them fixed, and they are out in the street and what he’s going to run them over,” Bittner said.

The humane officers said this is an open investigation.  As for the three cats, no one can find them to tell if they lived, were injured or even died.

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