PA Cop Charged With Killing Unarmed Man

A Pennsylvania officer was charged with criminal homicide for killing an unarmed man after he fled a traffic stop, Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico Jr. said Tuesday. Lisa Mearkle, a 15-year veteran of the Hummelstown Police Department, shot and killed David Kassick after a routine traffic stop last month. The 59-year-old victim was out on probation and fled the scene to his sister’s house, where Mearkle followed and tasered him after he failed to comply, said Brian Perry, Mearkle’s attorney. The officer said Kassick appeared to be reaching under his belly for what could have been a weapon, which led Mearkle to shoot him twice in the back while he was on the ground. The district attorney also said Kassick had alcohol and unspecified drugs in his system when he died, and a hypodermic needle was found near his body.