McKeesport Couple Believes Sheriff's Deputies Acted Unprofessionally
McKEESPORT (KDKA) -- Allegheny County Sheriff's deputies are under fire for the way they served a warrant.
Sheriff's deputies executed the arrest warrant on the McKeesport man last month for failing to show up for a court hearing.
Randy Kovach Jr. and William Ura were at home in the middle of the night when they heard a bang at the door.
"We were trying to get to the door; they had already started kicking it," said Kovach.
Ura was taken into custody wearing only his underwear.
"They came in, threw me down to the ground, told me that I had a warrant out for my arrest, and I'm like, 'for what?' and they wouldn't answer me," Ura said.
The next day, however, the warrant was quashed and Ura was released from Allegheny County Jail.
Kovach said his partner was in the hospital getting treatment for a medical condition, and that's why he missed the hearing.
Probation officials and a judge signed on to his no-show, according to Ura.
Sheriff William Mullen says if one of the men had opened the door when deputies knocked, there wouldn't have been a problem.
"If they had opened the door this wouldn't have happened. He knew we were there; he knew who we were," said Sheriff Mullen. "There was a warrant that was issued for him, the warrant was a live warrant, we executed the warrant, he was arrested, taken to jail. It's standard procedure, what we do all the time."
Kovach calls it a mix-up that should have been cleared up at least five days before deputies showed up at their home with the warrant.
"We don't have the money to replace that door, and our insurance, our deductibles - $1,000. I don't know what it's going to cost to fix the door," Kovach said.
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