Suspects in burning of unmarked Pittsburgh police car during protest appear in court

Four people charged after the burning of a Pittsburgh police vehicle during protests May 30 near PPG Paints Arena waived their charges to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on Friday.

Cameron Guetta, Dajon Lengyel, Robert Redman, Shaheed Hatch and Khalena Connolly-Wack were all charged after the unmarked car was destroyed that afternoon after people had gathered to protest the police-killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

Guetta, 19, of Morningside, is charged with criminal mischief; institutional vandalism; riot; failure to disperse; disorderly conduct and obstruction of highways. Guetta can be seen in video recorded that day punching and kicking the car, knocking a sideview mirror off, according to a criminal complaint.

Lengyel, 23, of Brookline is charged with criminal mischief, institutional vandalism and riot. Police said he stomped on the police car and threw a traffic cone through its window.

Redman, 27, of Imperial, is charged with criminal mischief; institutional vandalism; riot; possessing an instrument of crime and criminal mischief. Police said in a criminal complaint that Redman struck the vehicle with a skateboard multiple times and was identified as having spray painted graffiti on the I-279 bridge pillar at Crosstown Boulevard and Forbes Avenue.

Hatch, 27, of Whitehall is charged with criminal mischief; riot; institution vandalism and theft. A charge of risking catastrophe was withdrawn by the prosecution. He is accused of taking a metal pole off of a construction sign nearby and using it to smash the passenger-side windows of the police car.

The case against Khalena Connolly-Wack, 22, of Jefferson Hills, who is charged with riot, institutional vandalism and criminal mischief was postponed. She is accused by police of jumping up and down on the hood four times.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, said the state charges in the case were filed prior to the U.S. attorney’s office injecting itself into the case. As part of an agreement between the two prosecuting agencies, the state charges will proceed to disposition before any additional action occurs at the federal level, he said.