Take Action Mon Valley Demands Answers After 2 Incidents Involving Police Officers In Homestead
HOMESTEAD, Pa. (KDKA) -- A community justice group is demanding answers from police after two separate incidents involving officers in Homestead.
The group says the two officers, one who is the police chief, abused their power.
Take Action Mon Valley took its concerns to the borough council on Tuesday about two incidents caught on cell phone video.
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The first video was taken in September. It shows a 14-year-old girl with an officer detaining her on the ground.
The girl was handcuffed after shopping with friends at a Giant Eagle store. The officer showed up after a call for theft, but the girl's mother said she didn't take anything and excessive force was used against her daughter.
"It was terrorizing for her. She's only 14. I just think something should be done," the girl's mother, Elizabeth Keefer, said.
The second incident happened this summer in a drive-thru pharmacy line. The woman in the video is pregnant and has her young son in the car.
She said while waiting in line for a prescription, Police Chief Jeffrey DeSimone pulled up behind her to get his prescriptions and became impatient. He turned on his police lights to intimidate her to move, she said.
"There's a disconnect to a degree. But as far as I was concerned, there wasn't a case until we heard this group was coming," Homestead Mayor Betty Esper said.
The chief was suspended for several days, but the community action group said more must be done.
The solicitor for the borough said he wants to get his hands on the complaints about these cases to present the information to the council on Thursday.