INDIANA, Pa. -- Two police departments have charged two men in separate cases involving police horses during the Indiana University of Pennsylvania's homecoming weekend.
The horses are from the tactical mounted unit of the state police in Hershey and have worked events in downtown Pittsburgh, including a Steelers Super Bowl victory parade and the G-20 economic summit.
WTAE Channel 4's Bob Mayo reported that the incidents happened a half-hour apart, as IUP homecoming partying spilled from Saturday night into Sunday morning.
"There were a lot of crowds, there a lot of people moving around. It was homecoming weekend for the university. This was our downtown bar district at 1:30 in the morning," Indiana Borough Police Sgt. Anthony Clement said.
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Watch Bob Mayo's Report Borough police said Reed Ciotti, 37, pushed a state police horse while a mounted patrol was assisting them with an incident involving another man.
Borough police said Ciotti also grabbed the animal's reins when police asked him to move out of the area at about 1:35 a.m. Sunday in the 600 block of Philadelphia Street.
"He apparently turned around and grabbed the horse by the throat and also by the harness and wouldn't release the horse," Clement said.
Ciotti, of Indiana, was taken to the Indiana County Jail on charges including assault on a police animal and resisting arrest. He is free on bond.
Also, state police said that Gregory Depner, 22, of Kittanning, was charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly smacking a horse that was being used in the course of police duties at homecoming events. It happened near the intersection of Philadelphia Street and Carpenter Avenue at about 2:05 a.m.
"I know of several instances in the past where people have punched the horses or kicked at the horses," Clement said.
State police Cpl. Michael Funk said the horses are trained to face down trouble.
"We escalate it a little bit to get it to the point where what they're going to see in a large crowd, and maybe in a riot, where people are screaming and yelling and they're in close contact," Funk said.
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