Woman accused of assaulting Crescent Township officer, trying to disarm him

CRESCENT TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A woman is accused of assaulting a police officer in an Allegheny County community Friday morning.

Court documents state Crescent Township Police Department officer Brian Tice responded to an attempted robbery report at a school bus stop on McGovern Boulevard at 7:25 a.m. Friday.

According to court documents, witnesses and the victim, a 12-year-old girl, said a woman, later identified as Karri Viella, 37, tried to take the girl’s phone by physically hitting it out of her hand while the girl was waiting for the bus. Viella then ran when the school bus approached.

Tice followed fresh footprints in the snow on Porter Street and Hindmarch Street, locating Viella at the Moon Township Municipal Authority. The court documents state Viella was trying to break into the sewage pump house, causing damage.

The court documents allege that when Tice confronted Viella, she attacked him. Viella’s accused of attempting to punch Tice in the face, then scratching, biting, and pushing dirt and stones into his eyes. During the confrontation, Veilla is also accused of grabbing Tice’s pistol but being unable to remove it from its holster and trying to strangle Trice with the radio cord on his body armor.

Tice was able to create space between himself and Viella and then deployed a taser on her, but it had no effect, the court documents say. She was taken into custody with help from backup officers.

Tice was taken to a hospital by ambulance for injuries sustained in the assault. In a post on Facebook, Chief Frank Marks says Tice is “doing well.”

In the same post, Marks expressed gratitude for the Allegheny County dispatchers and law enforcement agencies that assisted during this incident.

Several charges were filed against Viella on Friday, including assault of a law enforcement officer, disarming a law enforcement officer and robbery. Viella had no ID on her when arrested and was initially charged as a Jane Doe with no permanent address.

Viella is being held in the Allegheny County Jail and is set to have a preliminary hearing on Dec. 30.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW