Video of woman's arrest raises more questions about use of force by Donora police
Another video is raising more questions about the use of force in the Donora Police Department.
Video from last year shows an officer identified as Bob Cunningham handcuffing and dragging a woman down steps after she called police for help.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman called police for help retrieving belongings from a friend's house. The officer wrote that he warned her to stop screaming and yelling. She was arrested for disorderly conduct.
"I'm just getting havoc every day from these officers," said concerned resident Kelsha Barnes. "It takes one time for them to know who you are and they just continue and continue to keep targeting you."
Around the same time as this arrest, KDKA reported on a video that appeared to show Cunningham knocking a cellphone from a man's hand.
It raises questions about whether officials reviewed the woman's arrest.
"There is a right way to arrest people and there's a wrong way," said Donora borough councilmember Roderick Wilson. "We need to look at that. But I will say step one is everybody, including council, we need some sensitivity training as far as dealing with these cases and in particular the police in my opinion."
Last week, KDKA reported on a different Donora officer seen punching a man twice and tasing him. More people have since come forward with their own encounters with both officers.
Their concerns put borough leaders under scrutiny, including Council President Casey Perrotta.
Perrotta was fired as an Elizabeth Borough police officer and convicted in a case involving forged psychological evaluation paperwork for another officer. He was permanently barred from working as a police officer. Now he leads a council making decisions about Donora police, a role some residents question since he can't be an officer himself.
"That's something that needs to be taken up by the powers that be and I'll just leave it at that," Wilson said.
"That would fall into he hands of the solicitor and how that may go forward," he added.
Wilson said he was going to sit down with the police chief Wednesday afternoon and look at the videos together. He said he wants the borough to address these concerns locally without having to call for a federal investigation.
