DA Concerned Over Parole Officer Procedure
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Allegheny County District Attorney said he is not happy with the way parole officers attempted to take a suspect into custody on Monday.
It ended with an officer being dragged by a car and shots being fired in a busy neighborhood.
Earlier this week, parole officers attempted to serve a warrant on a suspect in Knoxville.
District Attorney Stephen Zappala was particularly concerned about the actions of parole officers who pursued a chase, fired at the suspect and did not notify police agencies where they were or what they were doing.
He went to Knoxville where it started and to Carrick where the incident ended. After talking to police he raised questions about parole officer procedure.
"First and foremost, Pittsburgh Police were not notified when the parole officers were going to effectuate the arrest. Their vehicles are not equipped to pursue anybody, they don't have distinctive vests which would indicate they are police officers or acting under color of authority. The vehicle where the defendant was seated initially had an innocent occupant. As far as we know she's innocent and they fired on the vehicle. There wasn't an attempt to box in the vehicle," Zappala said.
The chase also went by three schools on Brownsville Road.
Zappala said he is not thinking of pursuing charges, but does want to have a serious conversation with parole officials about procedures used in this case.
The Parole Board issued a statement through an attorney.
"While we do not normally comment on matters under review, we will certainly meet with the district attorney if he wishes to discuss his review of this matter and his recommendations with us. It is our policy that whenever an incident occurs involving an agent using a weapon, we wait until the investigation is concluded by the local police and, depending on that report, we will take any necessary action warranted."
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