Police use dog to capture woman they say sped through Mt. Vernon yard sale

A New Kensington police dog was used to apprehend a woman police say fled from an officer in Parnassus and sped through a neighborhood yard sale in Mt. Vernon on Friday afternoon.

Alyssa Nicole Depanicis, 32, was arraigned Saturday on several felony charges including fleeing, escape and resisting arrest, misdemeanor DUI charges, and summary traffic offenses.

Police said Depanicis’ last known address was in Vandergrift and that she might be homeless. She was being held in the Westmoreland County jail after being unable to post $50,000 bond.

In a criminal complaint against Depanicis, police said officers went to Sheetz on Freeport Street around 3 p.m. Friday for a report of three women nodding off and possibly under the influence of narcotics at a gas pump.

An officer saw the vehicle leaving Sheetz and turning left onto Freeport Street, police said. Police immediately recognized the driver as Depanicis, who was known to them, according to the complaint.

Police said Depanicis turned right onto Fourth Street, and the officer turned on his lights and siren.

When the light at Fourth and Stevenson Boulevard turned green, police said, Depanicis fled across Stevenson and up Center Avenue, crossing over the center line into oncoming traffic and nearly hitting an SUV coming down the hill.

Police said Depanicis turned left onto Rainbow Drive and accelerated at high speed toward the road’s dead end. Police said there were multiple pedestrians on the road participating in a neighborhood yard and garage sale.

As the vehicle approached the dead end, Depanicis got out while it was still moving toward the cliff and fled up a driveway, police said. An officer yelled three times for Depanicis to stop or that he would send a dog and that he would bite her, the complaint said.

Police said Depanicis ignored the officer’s commands and they sent the dog, which bit her on the right calf. Police said the dog held on to her as she tried to escape down a hillside.

The officer went down the hill to retrieve the dog and detain Depanicis, police said. After being ordered to stay on the ground, Depanicis got up and again fled down the hillside, the complaint said. The dog was deployed again, police said, and Depanicis immediately surrendered.

The dog was called off before biting her a second time, police said.

New Kensington police said they found Depanicis was wanted by the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s office on three warrants for resisting arrest, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and bad checks.

Police called medics to treat Depanicis’ wounds but she refused treatment at the station, the complaint said.

Police said Depanicis had bloodshot eyes and slow and slurred speech. Police said she told them that she had relapsed and had used heroin earlier in the day. She agreed to having her blood tested, which was done at Allegheny Valley Hospital, police said.

Depanicis did not have an attorney listed in court records.

Her preliminary hearing before New Kensington District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. is scheduled for Sept. 29.