WESTMORELAND CO., Pa. — A Southwest Greensburg councilman is under fire, accused of hurling racial slurs at a man after an incident involving their dogs.
In a police report obtained by Channel 11, Southwest Greensburg police were called to Oakland Avenue in April for a dog attack.
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Police said a dog owned by Levi Kinney got loose and bit councilman David Thomas’ dog.
As police were investigating they said Thomas was shouting derogatory comments at Kinney.
“On four different occasions, Thomas referred to Kinney as an expletive — and did it again three more times,” the report read.
This is what Kinney told Channel 11 about the incident:
“I mean you shouldn’t treat anybody like that. You should have the decency just to walk down the street,” said Kinney. “If you’re a councilman treating people like that, I don’t care if you’re black or white – don’t do it at all.”
Kinney was cited by police for not having the dog contained, but investigators said weeks later that Thomas and president of council Jeff Tabita showed up at the police station asking about the report.
They wanted to know how the reports are maintained and who has access to them. They also asked why the police chief included the racial slurs in his report.
“Tabita and Thomas both stated numerous times they weren’t asking me to change the report, but they were concerned with where the report would go,” said the chief.
The council president allegedly asked the chief if once a report was filed, did it have to stay filed? The chief said it would be tampering with records if anything was changed.
Mayor Carol Palcic told Channel 11 she was unaware of the incident, even though her name was in the police report.
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