Watching The Cops
See other Watching The Cops Articles
Title: Officer charged with killing unarmed driver lying facedown (expired inspection sticker)
Source:
Yahoo News / AP
URL Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pa-officer-ch ... narmed-motorist-165424205.html
Published: Mar 26, 2015
Author: MARK SCOLFORO
Post Date: 2015-03-26 21:01:20 by Hondo68
Keywords: None
Views: 8631
Comments: 38
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania police officer was charged Tuesday with criminal homicide after investigators concluded she shot an unarmed motorist in the back as he lay facedown after a traffic stop over an expired inspection sticker. Authorities accused Hummelstown police Officer Lisa J. Mearkle of shooting 59-year-old David Kassick twice on Feb. 2 without legal justification. She was released on $250,000 bail. Her attorney, Brian Perry, said Mearkle acted in self-defense, and he warned the case could cause police officers to hesitate in high-pressure situations. "She felt like she had to do what she did," Perry said. "This person was being commanded, begged, 'show me your hands,' and he kept going to his waist." Authorities said Mearkle had attempted to pull over Kassick for expired inspection and emissions stickers before he sped away. She caught up to Kassick near his sister's home where he had been living for a short time. He got out and ran before Mearkle incapacitated him with a stun gun, held in her left hand. He was on the ground when she shot him twice in the back with the gun in her right hand, police said. Mearkle, 36, told investigators she fired because he would not show her his hands and she thought he was reaching into his jacket for a gun. Perry said she did not know Kassick before the shooting. The offense of criminal homicide encompasses a range of charges, from misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter to felony first-degree murder. Prosecutors often narrow the charge later in the process, about the time when defendants are formally arraigned. The stun gun contained a camera that recorded audio and video from portions of the encounter, and District Attorney Ed Marsico called it the strongest evidence in the case. He said it appeared Kassick had been trying to remove the stun-gun probe from his back. "At the time Officer Mearkle fires both rounds from her pistol, the video clearly depicts Kassick lying on the snow covered lawn with his face toward the ground," according to the arrest affidavit. "Furthermore, at the time the rounds are fired nothing can be seen in either of Kassick's hands, nor does he point or direct anything toward Officer Mearkle." Marsico said Mearkle waited 4 seconds between the first and second shots, and afterward performed CPR. He called the shooting "a tragedy for all involved." The district attorney said a syringe was found near Kassick's body, and alcohol and unspecified drugs were found in his system. Lawyers for Kassick's family and estate issued a statement calling the charges "a substantial step toward closure" after what they described as a horrifying tragedy. They said he had worked as a Teamsters union laborer and struggled with addiction. "Mr. Kassick is now dead as a result of a traffic stop, a routine traffic stop," said one of the family's attorneys, Christopher Slusser. "He should not be dead. He should not have died as a result of that traffic stop. And the manner in which he was shot — you can infer from that what you will." Hummelstown Police Chief Charles M. Dowell did not respond to a message seeking comment, but his department issued a news release that said it had cooperated fully, calling the matter "an extremely difficult case for all involved." "We are servants of justice and must now allow the judicial process to conduct a fair and impartial review of the allegations that have been presented," the news release stated. Perry said Mearkle has been on the force for 15 years. She is married to a state trooper and has young children at home, he said. She was expected to be under electronic monitoring. Related Video:
Hummelstown, Pa., Police officer Lisa Mearkle walks into District Judge Lowell A. Witmer's office in West Hanover Twp., Tuesday, March 24, 2015, for her preliminary arraignment in connection with the shooting death of David Kassick during a traffic stop in February 2015. She was charged with criminal homicide, and is being held without bail over the Feb. 2 shooting. Investigators say Mearkle had incapacitated Kassick with a stun gun and he was on the ground when she shot him twice. She told investigators she thought he was reaching into his jacket for a gun.(AP Photo/PennLive.com, Mark Pynes)
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 24.
#8. To: hondo68 (#0)
Mr. Kassick turned this routine traffic stop into much more than that. Forget the expired inspection and emissions stickers. We got fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest, DWI, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Run away from the cops and bad things happen. F**k him.
I heard that this same cop had been found guilty of planting evidence in the past.
Really? Planting evidence in someone's blood? "The district attorney said ... alcohol and unspecified drugs were found in his system."
Really? Planting evidence in someone's blood? Sorry - different cop. It's difficult to keep track of all the badged thugs and their criminal malfeasance. New Video Appears to Show Cops Planting Crack in Innocent Man’s Car After Brutally Beating Him The former Detroit officer has an extremely long list of offenses, including having “been sued at least four times for excessive use of force. He has cost the city more than $1 million in legal settlements and received more citizen complaints than any other in the city,” the LA Times reported in 2003. In one particularly expensive settlement, the officer cost Detroit a million dollars following the fatal shooting of an unarmed man during a traffic stop in 1996. Melendez shot the man execution style 11 times, in front of horrified witnesses. During a joint investigation by the FBI and Detroit Police Department, he was indicted for corruption, falsifying police reports, and planting drugs/guns on suspects who had been illegally arrested. The officer was somehow acquitted by a jury, despite other police testifying against him.
#26. To: Deckard (#24)
When you spin like you do, makes it difficult to keep up.
Lisa Joellen Mearkle aka Undercover narcotics officer. Docket CP-22-MD-0000445-2015 She's back on the job, working at the station. Convenient for evidence tampering, witness intimidation, media propaganda releases, raiding the drug evidence locker, etc... The fox is guarding the henhouse, all is well. /s
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest"Mr. Kassick is now dead as a result of a traffic stop, a routine traffic stop,"
#19. To: misterwhite, hondo68 (#8)
We got fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest, DWI, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
#21. To: Deckard (#19)
"I heard that this same cop had been found guilty of planting evidence in the past."
#24. To: misterwhite (#21)
"I heard that this same cop had been found guilty of planting evidence in the past."
Replies to Comment # 24. It's difficult to keep track of all the badged thugs and their criminal malfeasance.
#32. To: Deckard (#24)
https://www.facebook.com/justicefordavidnow
Lisa Joellen Barder aka
Lisa Swartzlander aka
Lisa Mearkle aka
Lisa J Swartzlander aka
Lissa J Swartzlander
Trained polygraph and wiretap expert.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 24.
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]