Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
PITTSBURGH — A Westmoreland County woman accused with her father of assaulting a guard and police officer at PNC Park offered her apologies today, but said little else about the incident.
“I’m very sorry that this happened,” said Rachel George, 21, of Hempfield. “I wish that it never had happened.”
George made the brief statement alongside her mother, Amy, and her lawyer, Phil DiLucente, at the attorney’s Downtown office. Her father, Christopher George, 50, was not present.
Pittsburgh police charged Rachel and Christopher George with aggravated assault, conspiracy, harassment, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness for Saturday’s incident at a Pirates game. Their preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Police and court documents said Pirates security supervisor Joseph Risher was escorting Rachel George out of the stadium through the right field gate for allegedly smoking in her seat, when her boyfriend, whom police have not identified, assaulted Risher and ran off. Rachel George then jumped on Risher’s back and her father pushed the two of them against a section of fencing, police said.
Risher’s left middle finger got caught in the fence and was mostly torn off in the struggle. The finger has since been reattached.
Off-duty police officers working a special detail at the park responded and took the Georges to the security office, where there was more struggling. Police said Rachel spat on, cursed at and kicked officers while they attempted to make her sit and put her in an holding cell, and Sgt. Sean Duffy injured himself striking her in the face.
DiLucente declined to comment on most of the allegations in the court documents, but emphasized that the family was leaving the park “cooperatively” until the fighting started at the gate. He disputed the public drunkenness charge for Rachel, and said she had not taken a breath test or had her blood drawn for testing.
Reprinted with permission from The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review