PITCAIRN, Pa. — The chief of police in Pitcairn says there has been a rash of car break-ins along Airbreak Avenue, which is why a police officer initially stopped a 17-year-old who was walking in the area around midnight.
The teen’s aunt says her nephew is traumatized and the family wants answers.
“My sister can’t even watch it because she just heard her son screaming. I willed myself to watch it and I hate that I did because those screams we can just not get out of our minds,” Sonya Smith said.
Sonya Smith is talking about doorbell camera video of her nephew being arrested by police. In the video, you can hear the man screaming for help.
“I’ve seen multiple different clips of videos and there proceeded to be a lot more officers. One of the officers it looks like he was punching on him. My nephew was tazed as well while he was on the ground and he was handcuffed during this time as well,” Smith said.
Channel 11 spoke with Pitcarin’s police chief, who says what you’re seeing in the online clips happened after police tried to get the young man to give his name and cooperate and that when he’s allowed to release it, police body camera footage will show a full picture of what happened.
Pitcairn Chief Scott Farally said, “It shows the officers intervening, him saying, ‘We don’t have to do this. We don’t have to be so bad, just give us your identity and if you’re a minor, let’s contact your parent,’ but that didn’t happen.”
Instead, he says things escalated, where the two Pitcairn officers on duty called for backup.
“It was Pitcairn, North Versailles, East McKeesport, Turtle Creek and Monroeville,“ Farally said. “One officer from East McKeesport gets kicked in the chest while trying to subdue him.”
Monday, the NAACP Pittsburgh Branch, the Black Political Empowerment Project & Alliance for Police Accountability issued a joint statement:
“The scale and intensity of the police response raises questions regarding the necessity and proportionality of the legal basis for the arrest. Based on the footage, we are seeking clarification from the Pitcairn Police Department on the following issues:
• What was the legal basis for the initial stop of the youth?
• Did the officers make a good-faith effort to de-escalate the situation?
• Why were thirteen officers and a police canine necessary to address the situation with a youth of this stature?”
Smith said, “I just don’t see how someone could’ve been resisting screaming help like that’s the part that really bothers me the most he was really screaming and afraid for himself and his life.”
Smith says her nephew was hit twice in his head, tased and that he suffered injuries. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
Pitcairn’s chief says officers found a knife in the 17-year-old’s fanny pack. They say he’s now facing charges for kicking the police officer.
On Monday night at around 8 p.m., the NAACP shared a joint statement responding to Farally’s remarks.
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