Former Southwest Greensburg part-time cop to stand trial on oppression charge

A Connellsville woman testified Wednesday that she feared for her safety when an off-duty police officer pulled her over in East Huntingdon in his personal car.

Kelsie Provance said she wouldn’t roll down her window when James Edward Shaw, 54, of Mt. Pleasant Township twice approached her Kia Soul on Route 119 and, later, Interstate 70.

“I was freaking out. I didn’t feel comfortable,” she said.

District Judge Charles Moore ordered Shaw to stand trial on a misdemeanor official oppression charge at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing. Moore said witness testimony showed Shaw detained the woman Oct. 27 while he was out of his jurisdiction.

“I think the testimony when he activated the lights … and when he got out of the car and approached the vehicle” meet the definition of detaining someone, Moore said.

Shaw was charged last month by Westmoreland County detectives. He has been removed as a part-time officer for Southwest Greensburg. Trooper Kenneth Sherman said Shaw also worked in Fayette County as a police officer.

Provance testified she was headed north on Route 119 that morning when she noticed a black sports car get behind her near the Westmoreland-Fayette border. The driver turned on red and blue flashing lights and then pulled beside her on the highway.

“All I see is him put his window down and try to flash something at me out of the corner of my eye,” she said.

She pulled over near an exit in East Huntingdon, and the driver came up to her car. Provance testified she called 911 after seeing the driver had on a school police officer badge, khakis and a black shirt. She continued driving onto Interstate 70 westbound with the sports car following while she talked to a dispatcher.

Provance pulled off the Madison exit to meet with a state trooper, and the sports car followed. The driver again got out of his car and stood by her vehicle, using a notepad and recording her with a cellphone, she testified.

“At no point did Mr. Shaw announce himself as a police officer to you?” defense attorney Matthew Ness asked on cross-examination.

“Correct,” Provance responded.

Sherman testified Shaw claimed Provance was driving erratically. Sherman advised him to report an erratic driver outside of his jurisdiction to 911.

“He related that he knew what he did was incorrect, it was wrong and that this should’ve been handled via a phone call,” Sherman testified. “During my interaction with Mr. Shaw, he had more of a … defeated stance … as if I was questioning somebody and they already knew they did something wrong.”

Ness asked Moore to dismiss the charge, in part, because “police officers have it hard enough in the world we live in now.” Shaw made a “snap decision” upon encountering a driver he believed to be erratic, Ness said.

“We didn’t hear that he identified himself as a police officer. There was no gun drawn,” he said.

A formal arraignment is set for May 26.