Three held for trial in Hazelwood incident

Three members of a family arrested during an incident in which Pittsburgh police shot the family’s dog — and one of their own officers — were held for trial following a preliminary hearing Thursday.

Marlon Jackson, his mother, Saundra Cole McKamey, and his cousin Devin Paige will head to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on various charges in connection with the March 10 incident in Hazelwood.

The charges included, for Mr. Jackson, reckless endangerment, obstruction and aggravated assault; for Mr. Paige, tampering with evidence and possession of a controlled substance, and for Ms. McKamey, hindering apprehension. Police said they found Mr. Paige with a baggie of marijuana, according to a criminal complaint. They said Mr. Jackson was standing on a porch on Tipton Street refusing to take his hands out of his pockets while a dog inside the house was “aggressively barking,” the complaint said.

Police said they told Mr. Jackson to not let the dog out, but he intentionally released a pit bull, police said. The dog lunged at Officer Scott Brown, prompting Officer Christopher Goetz to fire twice, striking Officer Brown in the foot and the dog in the buttocks, according to the complaint.

At a news conference in June, which included the dog, the defendants said that the pit bull was not aggressive and the officers overreacted.