Pittsburgh Police officer injured while trying to break up fight in South Side

PITTSBURGH — A violent fight that broke out on the South Side early Saturday morning left one of the city’s officers hurt.

Pittsburgh Police said the officer’s ankle was broken as he and others on patrol were making an arrest on East Carson Street near 15th Street around 1 a.m. During that arrest, police said people on the sidewalk started to fight.

“That’s even more despicable just because a lot of the times, people are trying to come down here to have fun,” said Aaryonna Fontes of Point Breeze.

Surveillance video from inside a bar called Oddballs shows how it all started. One of the bar’s owners told Channel 11, that there was an argument between two people inside the bar when security and a police sergeant quickly stepped in to remove them.

Surveillance video from outside a business shows a man stumbling out of the bar and an officer separating him from someone else. He’s then seen pushing that officer and struggling with the police.

Video from a different camera angle shows a fight between a crowd of people breaking out further up the sidewalk. The group drags someone to the ground along with the injured officer.

The chaos then spills into the street as other officers rush over to help and handcuff a man. Several minutes later, the injured officer is taken away in an ambulance.

“I do hope the officer’s okay and I’m praying for his family,” Fontes said. “That’s a big deal.”

Despite the violent brawl, South Side’s Chamber of Commerce President Peter Margittai said the crime rate is improving and added the city’s dedicated patrol team over the weekends is helping.

“They’re incredible,” Margittai said. “They’ve been doing a really good job communicating with all the business owners, the community members, the different organizations. We’re really working very closely with them to bring crime down and I think there’s a lot of good statistics that that’s the case. Now obviously, we’re not there yet. People are not happy with the situation in the South Side as it is currently. There’s still a lot of work to do.”

Some said they do not feel any safer.

“As someone who’s made the choice to not really come down here because of the violence, I would not say I’ve seen it improve,” Fontes said. “Now someone who is sent here to protect everyone got hurt. It’s a little disheartening to hear because you’re hoping that the city will turn around and it’s just more of the same, unfortunately.”

Bernie Miklos, one of the owners of Oddballs said they were sad to hear about the officer who was hurt and are working with police.

Miklos sent a statement that reads in part: “We are deeply saddened that the sergeant sustained an ankle injury during that conflict. Oddballs security stayed at the scene and continued to assist until the issue was resolved. We ceased business for the night immediately following the altercation. Oddballs keeps a staff of five security including a detail cop every Friday and Saturday night. Every patron has their ID scanned and undergoes a pat down before being allowed to enter the bar. All parties involved with last night’s altercation have been identified and information provided to Pittsburgh Police.”

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