Penn Hills man, 63, charged for driving into protest crowd

David Fiori Jr. drove through a red light and into an intersection filled with protesters, police said, then turned around and did it again.

Mr. Fiori, 63, of Penn Hills, faces charges of attempted aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment after he allegedly drove into a Penn Hills intersection and clipped a person with his car’s mirror, according to a criminal complaint.

The protest began Wednesday at about 4:30 p.m. at the intersection of Saltsburg and Stotler roads. About one minute into a social media video of the protest, Mr. Fiori is seen driving a silver Hyundai sedan through a red light and into the intersection.

The vehicle’s passenger side mirror hit the back of a woman’s arm, but police said she refused treatment.

Moments later, the car turned around, passed multiple vehicles, went into the opposing lane and barreled through the intersection again, almost hitting multiple people, according to the complaint. After a few minutes, police moved the protesters onto the sidewalk.

“The speed that he was coming, if he would have done a head-on collision with somebody, he could’ve killed somebody,” said Chauntey Porter, a protester from Sheraden.

Officer Ryan Ferek wrote in the criminal complaint that he approached Mr. Fiori in a driveway on Saltsburg Road. Mr. Fiori admitted openly and freely to the officer that he did something “stupid,” and he “did not know why” other than because he got “worked up.”

Mr. Fiori could provide “no legitimate reason for his actions,” Officer Ferek wrote.

Demonstrators said they were protesting inadequate police response to a dispute between neighbors in the community.

Some protesters said they were frustrated with how police handled the incident. They said officers seemed more focused on getting protesters off the road and didn’t immediately arrest Mr. Fiori at the scene.

“You know we’re living in a messed-up world when you’re more concerned about a traffic jam than you are about someone else’s life,” said Amber Sloan. She said that she wished the charges were more severe and feared the three counts of simple assault might not stick.

“It was very traumatic,” she added. “There was one young woman — I can’t remember her name — she was literally crying.”

Mr. Fiori also faces traffic violations. He was arraigned Thursday and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 27. Court records do not list a lawyer for Mr. Fiori, and he could not be reached for comment.