PA Police Officer Charged With Criminal Homicide

Apr 30

Posted by

MEarkle

Lisa Mearkle

On February 2, 2015, Hummelstown, PA police officer Lisa Mearkle pulled over 59-year-old David Kassick for an expired inspection sticker. David ran and Mearkle used her stun gun. That activated the recording device on the stun gun and it recorded audio and video portions of the encounter.

Now, the 36-year old Mearkle has been charged with criminal homicide. She was arrested after an investigation, on March 24, 2015, and is currently out of jail on a $250,000 and ordered to wear an ankle monitor.

David Kassick

David Kassick

David’s brother told the media that David was employed as a construction worker and had alcohol problems, but was not violent. Drugs and alcohol were found in David’s body.

Mearkle claimed that she ordered David to show his hands, and thought he was going into his waistband or jacket pocket for a gun. However, the video shows that David was face down on the ground. His hands were showing, were empty, and he was unarmed. Mearkle shot David twice in the back. District Attorney Ed Marsico called the video the strongest evidence in the case.

Attorney Christopher Slusser, one of the Kassick family’s attorneys, stated:

“Mr. Kassick is now dead as a result of a traffic stop, a routine traffic stop. He should not be dead. He should not have died as a result of that traffic stop. And the manner in which he was shot — you can infer from that what you will.”

 

Posted on 04/30/2015, in Cases, Cops Gone Wild, David Kassick and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 44 Comments.

  1. Glenn (freedom of movement) Robinson @getgln | 04/30/2015 at 2:55 am

    Cops need to stop being judge, jury and executioner.

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    • scrodriguez | 04/30/2015 at 10:09 am

      Agreed! Their Job is to look for probable cause and make an arrest their Job is to NOT kill those they arrest but to bring them in alive so that they can be punished thats their job.

      its disturbing to see this happen every single day whats even more disturbing is watching them lie about what really happened. I honestly think we need to clean house 1 law that covers the entire land no different laws in different states all states all countys all have the same laws, then one police force this way we get rid of this Jurisdiction BS

      Liked by 1 person

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  2. Mr. Militant Negro | 04/30/2015 at 3:10 am

    Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.

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  4. shyloh | 04/30/2015 at 5:11 am

    I am getting sick and tired of the same OLD excuses they give. Everyone of them repeat the “I feared for my life, he was reaching in his waistband, I thought he had a gun,” Really! So I Shot Him in the BACK a couple of times.

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    • Xena | 04/30/2015 at 5:32 am

      Shyloh,
      Listening to the State’s Attorney point out that there was 4 seconds between the shots got my attention. As a lay person, I would not have associated that with the officer’s ability to think and see that David was no threat. She shot him again, anyway.

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      • Glenn (freedom of movement) Robinson @getgln | 04/30/2015 at 12:38 pm

        How many citizens need to be murdered by police before we say it’s too much and disarm the police? Police kill more US citizens than any terrorist group does.

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        • scrodriguez | 04/30/2015 at 5:10 pm

          Exactly and I dont see how or why people think this isnt a reality it is how many times have you seen on cops a man standing wanted for something he did and cops bull rush him and slam him to the ground from behind as if that was called for from the get you only use force when its needed

          But apparently we have given them so much credit just for being a cop we assume or some assume the force used is always justified no its not

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  5. mindyme62 | 04/30/2015 at 5:12 am

    How sadistic are these ‘people’ becoming? A ‘rough ride’ in a Baltimore police van resulting in a severed spine, a mentally disabled woman tazed numerous times, fist bumps and laughter while mocking a beating as the victim sits nearby. Now this, shot in the back, while face down and defenseless. This is maddening.

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  6. shyloh | 04/30/2015 at 6:17 am

    Ummm I thought there was a seat belt law.. I guess not for the police dept.

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  7. Bill Taylor | 04/30/2015 at 10:11 am

    dont worry fox news and hannity will explain how this was justified, see we mere lay people dont know how dangerous being an officer is.

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    • Xena | 04/30/2015 at 7:57 pm

      Bill,
      HA! Yep. But, being a window washer can be dangerous. Working in the medical field can be dangerous, as we saw with the Ebola outbreak. They also get stuck with needles from time to time. In a civilized society, we need certain professions, but those who are deputized to carry guns are in a profession that can kill a person in a matter of a second. There is a higher bar for responsibility, and accountability.

      We are not considered consumers when it comes to law enforcement because if we do need to call on them, we can’t pick and choose which officer arrives. We have no alternative to use another service, and we have no say over who is employed. We have no boycott power. The only people we can turn to for reform, are those we elect. This coming election campaign season should be interesting. Candidates should be forced into saying if elected, what they will do to reform.

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  8. racerrodig | 04/30/2015 at 10:26 am

    Yep…………shoot ’em in the back………..just like the Nazi’s did.

    How much longer is this going to go on ?? Are these cops that stupid to think nobody is watching?? If they are not that stupid, then they’re smart enough to be held accountable for intentionally shooting an unarmed and often handcuffed suspect, usually guilty of nothing warranting being injured, let alone shot.

    That’s premeditation………..Murder in the 1st degree. These cops have a huge victim pool to chose from when on duty. I believe one or two complaints against a cop and there done. They may have a violent streak and they may still become a killer, but at least the victim pool is far smaller, since they are no longer on the hunt “legally” in a patrol car, and no more blue line to protect them.

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    • shannoninmiami | 04/30/2015 at 9:16 pm

      Right! once there’s a complaint that’s *found to be true but isn’t so severe that someone was seriously hurt, they could be given a chance (depending on the circumstances) at community service or something like actual counseling/training & put on probation for a certain time.

      but if they reoffend they’re disgraced, discredited, fired, fined & banned from ever working in LE ANYWHERE in the country.
      But if it’s something serious like physically abusing someone, they should be charged with the crime & do the time. period.

      and a citizens review board deals with complaints against cops.The review board does all the ‘investigations’ of complaints by citizens, not the cops & their co-workers (who are just co-workers, not the ride-or-die/blood-in-blood-out gangs they act like now.)
      If the complaint is true, the review board &the victims decide if the cop is worthy for a second chance or not because they are the boss after all.
      And like any boss, the boss decides who they want to employ not the employees.

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  9. Two sides to a story | 04/30/2015 at 10:47 am

    I’m encouraged that officers are being arrested. I’ll be a lot happier when they get the jail time they deserve and some true reform takes place.

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  10. Gronda Morin | 04/30/2015 at 2:53 pm

    There is a sliver good news here. Some not so lazy journalists are starting to ask the same questions we’ve been asking; making similar comments. I channel surf NPR, C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, Fox as well as reading papers. On Morning Joe today, the participants including Joe Scarborough were wondering why the Baltimore mayor ever committed to publicly disclosing information collected by police, on Friday, May 1, 2015. They were asking why the medical autopsy report could not be shared with the public, etc.Then they totally discounted the Washington Post leaked story about Freddie Gray deliberately hurting himself on the van. I can tell that the frame by which they view these incidents, is beginning to become more doubtful about police actions.

    Washington Post should be ashamed of publishing the van story. This is a prime example of sloppy, lazy journalism. The go to journalist on the Freddie Gray story is Jayne Miller of WBAL in Baltimore. She is a 30 plus year professional and a well respected veteran of the Baltimore beat with lots of sources within the police department. She debunked the Washington Post story in a matter of seconds based on her knowledge of the case. According to her, the other prisoner in the van was picked up in the last 5 minutes of the ride. Forensically, it was impossible for Freddie Gray’s injuries to have been self inflicted.

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  11. sidewinder50 | 04/30/2015 at 8:17 pm

    I have a few questions if anyone can answer, I’d appreciate it:

    Has the video tape of the additional stop which was announced today been released? If so, is there a link?

    Has it ever been released as to where (what part of his body) Eric Harris was shot by Officer Bob (to quote LLMPapa)?

    Thanks.

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  12. yahtzeebutterfly | 04/30/2015 at 9:03 pm

    deray mckesson @deray · 9m 9 minutes ago
    I just heard that the @BaltimorePolice arrested one of the people who filmed the arrest of #FreddieGray earlier today.

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