Former Penn Hills officer charged, accused of pulling PIT maneuver on another driver

A former Penn Hills police officer is facing several charges after investigators said he pulled a PIT maneuver, hitting the back of another driver's car and causing him to spin out. 

According to the criminal complaint, Plum police were dispatched to Universal Road for a two-vehicle crash on June 26. Dispatchers told police that they could hear two men arguing on an open line, with one threatening to shoot the other. 

Investigators said body camera footage showed an officer with Penn Hills police talking to one of the drivers, Dennis Pape, after the crash. He said that the other driver passed him on Universal and "as he tried to get over, I swerved hitting him or whatever." 

Police said Pape described hitting the back of the other driver's vehicle, causing him to stop before Pape cut in front. "So basically it was like a PIT maneuver," Pape said, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators noted that a PIT maneuver, or a precision immobilization technique, is a tactic only authorized and used by Pennsylvania State Police to end chases. 

Court paperwork also says that as the Plum officer tried to talk with the other driver involved, Pape kept "pacing back and forth" and ignored instructions to stay by his vehicle. 

At one point, police said that Pape said, "How about a little courtesy, I've been a cop for f***ing 20 years." Police said Pape used to work for the Penn Hills police department. 

When police tried to arrest Pape, they said he resisted and continued to swear at officers. 

Pape was charged with recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest, obstructing the administration of law, reckless driving, careless driving and disorderly conduct.