More than two months after a brief altercation erupted at a protest against Springdale Police’s pact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, police have charged a man for his involvement in the incident and later threatening police and borough officials.
Police say Ian Patrick Hill, 40, threatened a motorist who stopped in front of the Feb. 14 protest, menacing the man with a stick and threatening to kill him.
The “Love Thy Neighbor” rally, which took place at the intersection of Pittsburgh and School streets, was organized to protest the arrest of Randy Cordova-Flores, 36, earlier that month and the borough’s agreement with ICE. Springdale Police arrested Cordova-Flores, who lived with his family and children in the borough, after a traffic stop and later handed him over to ICE.
Todd Lovic, who was driving down Pittsburgh Street, stopped his SUV in the street and got out of the vehicle after chanting “Go Trump” and “USA,” at the crowd, according to the complaint.
The complaint said Lovic was “having car trouble” and felt something strike the passenger side of his vehicle, causing him to exit and “assess the damage.”
Video taken by TribLive of the incident shows Lovic walk back to his open driver door after exchanging words with several protesters.
Hill approaches Lovic equipped with a pipe and slams the driver door shut.
The two have a short confrontation, during which Hill appears to raise the pipe at Lovic, before other protesters step in to separate them.
Lovic then turned around to be face-to-face with a photographer, whom he forcefully pushed back, knocking his camera out of his hands. He then attempted to punch the photographer as another man tried to separate them.
Police charged Hill with misdemeanor simple assault and making terroristic threats.
Lovic is currently not facing any charges related to the incident.
According to police, Lovic said Hill had threatened to kill him during the brief altercation.
The incident ended when Lovic got back in his SUV after a borough police officer arrived and directed him to leave the scene in an effort to “de-escalate the situation,” according to the complaint.
Later alleged threats
Hill is also charged with several more counts of making terroristic threats for comments he made later on Facebook.
On the morning of April 23, Hill posted a bulleted list of advice “in light of recent events in Springdale.”
He seemed to be referring to the arrest of resident William “Danny” Rosenmund, who was pinned to the floor and arrested during Springdale’s April 21 council meeting after he spoke longer than the borough’s three-minute limit during the meeting’s public comment period. Springdale officials said Rosenmund resisted police efforts to escort him from the room.
In the post, Hill advised residents to go in large groups to council meetings, arm themselves and not to let council members leave meetings until they address residents’ demands for change, among other tips.
“Let them know that they too are touchable. They have addresses. Loved ones. Kids. Pets. All of which are entirely within the scope of tragedy when they force violence upon you,” the final bullet read.
He also reposted a meme captioned, “Inside you are two bricks.” One of the bricks is labelled “throw me at a cop,” and the other is labelled “use me to build community.”
In two other posts, Hill asks for Springdale Police Chief Derek Dayoub’s address and posted an “ode to Christopher Dorner,” a former Los Angeles police officer who died in a fiery shootout with police in California after he killed four people in 2013 in a self-proclaimed war with the LAPD.
Hill spoke at Springdale Council’s meeting in February, criticizing borough police and asking why Lovic had been let go after the altercation at the protest.
He also claimed Dayoub had threatened him with a gun over a dispute regarding leaf disposal in the past. When Dayoub attempted to respond that the claim had been “completely refuted,” Hill began shouting, and police escorted him from the meeting.
Dayoub did not immediately respond to a TribLive request for comment.
Court documents do not currently list a defense attorney for Hill. He was unable to post $5,000 bail and remains in the Allegheny County Jail, according to the documents.
Hill’s preliminary hearing is set for May 6 before District Judge Michael Girardi.