Wilkinsburg woman charged in fight over parking spot
A Wilkinsburg woman was arrested early Tuesday after police said she fought with another woman over a parking spot, then used her car to strike a second woman — “crushing” her between two vehicles.
Tracey Shifflett, 35, was charged with several felony counts including attempted homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI.
She also faces a DUI charge, reckless endangerment and simple assault.
Police said they responded just before 3 a.m. to the 600 block of Holmes Street in Wilkinsburg to reports that someone had been struck by a car, and that a drunk driver was hitting vehicles and trying to leave the scene.
Shortly after police arrived, Ms. Shifflett and a woman began fighting while another woman was injured and unable to move on the sidewalk, officials said. Authorities placed the women in separate police cars.
The two had also fought before the officers got there, police said. The altercation started as Ms. Shifflett was upset that a car was parked in “her spot” after she got home early Tuesday.
The woman’s mother got involved and broke up the brawl, police said.
Witnesses told police the two women had tried to get in their car and leave when Ms. Shifflett used her own vehicle to strike the mother before she could get into the car.
The woman was “crushed” between two vehicles, and Ms. Shifflett accelerated her car so hard that she left “chunks of balled up rubber” and 20 feet of skid marks on the street, authorities said.
At some point before officials arrived, the woman’s daughter had prevented Ms. Shifflett from leaving the scene immediately for fear Ms. Shifflett was trying to flee after having tried to “kill her mother,” police said.
She was arrested along with Ms. Shifflett — though later released without charges — while her mother was taken to UPMC Presbyterian with a fractured pelvis and other serious injuries to her legs, police said.
Police said the woman’s daughter was also taken to the hospital with injuries to her face. Her shirt was also torn in the scuffle.
Ms. Shifflett was uncooperative and refused to take a field sobriety test, police said. Her eyes were red and glassy and she was slurring her speech. Officials said they could also smell alcohol on her breath.
She was found to be “highly intoxicated” after arriving at the Wilkinsburg police station, police said.
Ms. Shifflett was then taken to the Allegheny County Jail where she is being held without bail, court records show.
A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 30 before District Judge Kim M. Hoots.