Police: Tarentum man started fight with off-duty Pittsburgh officer at Harrison custard shop

A Tarentum man was arrested after getting into a fight with another man at a Harrison custard shop Sunday night.

Harrison police said Jacob A. Fisher, 24, threatened the other man’s 5-year-old daughter and spit at him before punching him in the face at Della’s Frozen Custard, formerly Del’s Custard, on Freeport Road.

The other man happened to be an off-duty Pittsburgh police officer, who took Fisher to the ground and was holding him there when Harrison officers responded shortly after 8:30 p.m., according to court records.

Police said the confrontation happened after Fisher yelled obscenities at Della’s staff and other customers. Two witnesses told police Fisher was upset about his order, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

After the off-duty Pittsburgh officer asked Fisher not to swear in front of his daughter, the complaint said Fisher told the other man, “You better protect your (expletive) daughter.” A witness said she heard Fisher say, “You better hide your (expletive) kid.”

While police said they determined Fisher was the main aggressor, Fisher claimed the officer pushed him first, according to a criminal complaint.

In a phone interview, Fisher admitted he had been upset about his order and swore, prompting the officer to ask him not to do that in front of his child.

Fisher claimed that, as he was leaving, the officer — who he did not know was an officer at first — made an exaggerated move to shield his child behind him. Fisher said he asked if that was necessary, and claimed the man said he was “protecting her from people like you,” and that he told him he was not welcome there and to get out.

Fisher said he spit on the ground and swore, after which, “We get into a fight,” he said.

“It had nothing to do with his daughter at all. It was two men having a problem,” he said. “He gripped me up. I fought back.”

Fisher claimed the officer put his hands on him first.

“It takes two people to fight,” he said. “Why was I the only one arrested? He was excluded because he is a cop.”

Police said the officer suffered a small cut to his upper lip and had injuries to his kneecaps from the tussle in the gravel parking lot. He also was bleeding from a forearm where Fisher allegedly bit him while he was holding Fisher down, the complaint said.

The officer’s shirt, shorts and shoes, valued at $150, were damaged.

Fisher did not have any visible injuries but complained of back pain, police said.

Harrison police charged Fisher with simple assault, disorderly conduct, harassment and criminal mischief. He was released from the Alle­gheny County Jail after paying 10% of a $5,000 percentage bond.

Fisher’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 5 before District Judge Carolyn Bengel in Brackenridge.