Monessen officers, suspects rescued from hillside
Multiple police officers and suspects in a vehicle theft had to be rescued from a steep hillside Sunday night.
Monessen Fire Department Chief Delmar Hepple said crews were called at about 6 p.m. to the intersection of Dennis Avenue and Pine Street and that four officers and two “detainees” were trapped at the bottom of a hillside.
Charleroi Regional Police Department Chief Chad Zelinsky said Monessen police were pursuing a vehicle that had been reported stolen from Charleroi. It’s not clear how the vehicle chase ended, and where the vehicle was abandoned. Zelinsky referred further questions to Monessen’s police department.
Monessen police Chief David Yuhasz did not return a phone call seeking additional information. According to online court records, charges have not yet been filed.
According to Hepple, officers followed the two suspects on foot into a densely wooded area and took them into custody.
“Darkness set in and so did the cold, and they kind of ran out of the means to escape,” Hepple said.
Hepple described the area as having “very rough terrain,” and that the officers and two suspects were about 800 feet over the hillside.
Charleroi and Bentleyville fire departments initially responded to assist. Finding the group and the best point of entry was the first problem for the rescue crews.
“The terrain that they were in, you couldn’t see up the hill or down the hill in any direction,” Hepple said.
Hepple added that everyone involved was using the same radio frequency for ease of communication.
“It’s not often that EMS, fire and police are on the same frequency,” Hepple said. “We had constant contact with the officers in the woods.”
Emergency crews cut a path down the hillside and set up a rescue rope. Murrysville Medic One also responded with their rope rescue team, and set up a large tent to serve as a warming center. According to Hepple, one of the suspects had been pulled out when the Murrysville agency had arrived.
The rescue took a little over three hours. Hepple said one of the officers took himself to a hospital for an eye injury. The suspects were hospitalized for “hypothermia type issues,” according to Hepple.
“Everything worked pretty good. We don’t often do this type of thing here in town,” Hepple said.