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City Parks Employee Arrested, Accused Of Assaulting Police

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Deshean Jennings, 20, works on the sound crew for the City of Pittsburgh, City Parks Department.

And according to neighbors is a college student.

But yesterday, according to Pittsburgh Police, Jennings was outside his East End home near an area - under watch for drug sales. Police say that is when officers spotted Jennings involved in what appeared to be a drug transaction.

"The detective was all the way down there at the red truck," witness Donald Montgomery Sr. said.

Based on their observations, police say they moved in, identified themselves and saw an open alcohol container. Officers say Jennings was resistant, refused to cooperated, used his left arm to strike one of the detectives and tried to get into his car.

"He was in handcuffs the whole time," said Montgomery. "He never had a chance to even do nothing."

A witness gave KDKA-TV a cell phone video that shows Jennings in police custody in handcuffs, as police put him in a head lock. He does not appear to be resistant. Another witness described what he saw.

"They put him in cuffs, there was just a little conversation, the next thing you know they just started choking him and choked him all the way to the ground," said Montgomery.

Police say - once in custody - they found a city gas nob for fuel for a city vehicle in his pocket then noticed the city van parked nearby. Police say they also found marijuana in a front pocket and detected alcohol on Jennings' breath. They took Jennings and the van into custody.

"It's all bogus," Montgomery said. "No aggravated assault, the bottle of liquor they found ben sitting in the car for days."

Jennings faces a list of charges including aggravated assault, underage drinking and resisting arrest.

The city says his employment was already categorized as part time.

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