PITTSBURGH — Target 11 has obtained the 911 call that prompted the police response to Bloomfield last fall, which ended with the tasing and death of a homeless man.
The call was made by a woman in Bloomfield. We are not identifying her and have altered her voice.
Target 11 Investigator Rick Earle has listened to the call multiple times. He said the woman appears calm and collected but you can tell by the tone of her voice that she’s very concerned.
She’s calling to request an officer to check out a suspicious man lurking around her neighborhood.
We all know how the story unfolds — with Jim Rogers dead, at least eight police officers facing termination, and an ongoing criminal investigation.
But this is the first time anyone is hearing how it all began.
The call begins:
“911 call taker: Allegheny County 911. What is the address of your emergency?”
The call came into Allegheny County’s 911 center from the resident on Harriet Street in Bloomfield at 10:20 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2021.
“Caller: I just want to report a suspicious person. He’s walking around in my neighbor. Sorry, I’m like freaked out.”
The caller said a man she doesn’t recognize is in the process of going from her porch to her neighbor’s yard. She requested a police officer to respond.
“Caller: He’s walking around in my front yard, coming up on my porch. Now, he’s in my next-door neighbor’s front yard. And he’s just like poking around our stuff and I would just like a police officer to come back or come out and check it out because I don’t really know what he’s up to and he’s acting super weird.”
The 911 operator then asked for a description, which the caller provided.
The caller then said the man was headed to a neighbor’s porch.
“Caller: He was like sitting on their porch and like smoking a cigarette. He like threw something in my neighbor’s trash can. It’s just like very weird going on.”
As she relayed that information, she said he was taking a bicycle from a neighbor’s yard.
“911: OK, how old do you think he is?”
“Caller: 50s maybe.”
“911: OK, he’s alone.”
“Caller: He’s thin. Yeah, he’s alone, he’s just kind of like, just kind of stumbling, a bit. Yeah, blue. Yeah, he’s stealing a bike right now. I’m literally watching him do it.”
She told the 911 operator the man was heading down Harriet Street toward South Evaline.
“Caller: He’s just walking down the street now. He’s riding away on the bike.”
A dispatcher then radioed a city of Pittsburgh Police officer, whom we now know to be Officer Keith Edmonds.
“Dispatcher: Caller is reporting there was a male on her neighbor’s porch, stealing a bike. Black male, thin build, black T-shirt, gray sweatpants.”
“Officer Keith Edmonds: Copy, a description of the bike?”
“Caller: No description of the bike.”
Minutes later at 10:29 am, Officer Edmonds encountered Jim Rogers on Harriet Street in Bloomfield.
At this point, though, Rogers had already returned the bike.
Still, tensions quickly escalated.
Police have said Rogers failed to comply and Edmonds tased him ten times.
More officers arrived and helped take Rogers down, and handcuffed him.
On the way to the hospital, Rogers went into cardiac arrest but the officers thought he was sleeping.
An internal report found the officers used excessive force and failed to get Rogers medical attention.
Eight officers are now in the process of being fired.
Many of them, including Edmonds, appeared before a county grand jury investigating whether any officers should face criminal charges.
“Do you have anything to say to the family of Jim Rogers?” Earle asked Edmonds on his way out of the grand jury room.
Target 11 was there and exclusively asked Edmonds for comment. He never responded to our questions.
“Did you testify today?” asked Earle.
Both the Public Safety Department and the Pittsburgh Police Officers’ union have declined to comment on disciplinary action.
We have reached out to the neighbor who made that 911 call but she didn’t want to talk.
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