Penn Hills man leads Verona police on foot chase through traffic while carrying baby, police say
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Verona police say a Penn Hills man wanted for retail theft led officers on a foot chase, weaving between passing vehicles with his infant daughter in his arms.
It was only after his arrest that it became clear why the suspect made such a desperate attempt to flee from petty thefts.
Andre Frazier, 31, is charged with felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and evading arrest as well as a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.
The encounter stemmed from a report of a man inside the Verona Giant Eagle on Wednesday who had stolen items from there two days earlier, according to a criminal complaint.
Police say the man had his 7-year-old son in tow during the Monday incident. The man walked to the store’s beer and wine section, pulled out several blue plastic Giant Eagle shopping bags from his shorts pocket and filled them with items, police said.
From there, he sprinted out of the store and into a blue Nissan Altima, the complaint states.
A store employee recognized him in the store on Wednesday and called borough police. Verona Officer Thomas Dessell wrote in Frazier’s arrest papers that the man was wearing the same clothes and driving the same car.
Dessell confronted Frazier near the front entrance, the complaint states, “but Frazier refused to stop and began to push past me several times.
“I attempted to reason with him and just provide his name, but Frazier refused while still holding the small child.”
Dessell wrote that he told Frazier to put the child in a car seat in his car, but Frazier refused.
Dessell said that Frazier began to walk away quickly and then broke into a sprint down Jones Street — still carrying his 6-month-old daughter, the complaint said.
Dessell recorded body camera footage of the entire incident, but Verona officials declined to release it, saying the footage is evidence in their case against Frazier.
Frazier weaved through traffic with Dessell in pursuit, police said.
“I was not chasing him, but following him while trying to reason with him to stop,” Dessell wrote in the complaint.
At one point, a passerby “told Frazier to stop and give her the child” — and he did, the complaint said.
But instead of following Dessell’s order to drop to the ground, Frazier fled again.
Shortly after, a driver cut off Frazier with his truck, police said, allowing Dessell to shock him with a Taser in the elbow and back, which knocked him to the ground. But Frazier took off again, the complaint said.
The chase continued for a brief time, but Oakmont police arrived and helped to detain Frazier, the complaint states.
According to his arrest papers, Frazier was on parole for a drug delivery that resulted in death.