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New Kensington woman accused of hitting woman with SUV in Giant Eagle parking lot
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New Kensington woman accused of hitting woman with SUV in Giant Eagle parking lot

A New Kensington woman is accused of hitting another woman with her SUV after an argument in the Giant Eagle parking lot on Monday.

New Kensington police have charged Tyonna Lashay Kirk, 29, with aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a vehicle and accident resulting in death or personal injury. She is also charged with terroristic threats, reckless driving and criminal mischief.

An officer who arrived at the store on Tarentum Bridge Road around 5 p.m. found an elderly woman on the ground as bystanders helped her, police said in a criminal complaint. The woman’s age was not given.

The woman told the officer she felt nothing below her waist. She was taken to the AHN Forbes Hospital Trauma Center in Monroeville.

The woman and two witnesses gave police their story about what happened. The incident was also captured on the store’s surveillance cameras.

The woman told police she thought she had upset the driver of another car, later identified as Kirk, by taking too long to get out of her vehicle, the complaint said. Kirk began yelling and cursing at her, and the woman responded with an obscene gesture, after which the woman said Kirk threatened to kill her, police said.

The woman told police that when she tried to take a photo of Kirk’s license plate, Kirk grabbed her phone from her hand and threw it across the parking lot.

The woman told police she took out her phone and tried to take video of Kirk’s vehicle. She said Kirk backed out of a room, drove toward her and stopped. The woman said she continued filming, and when she got to the side of the vehicle, Kirk accelerated, hit her with the passenger side of the car and “walked” out of the parking lot, according to the complaint.

The witnesses gave similar accounts of what they saw and heard of the argument. One said she saw the woman fall to the ground after being hit by a white SUV and the driver driving away without checking on her. The other witness gave police the license plate number of the vehicle.

On the store’s video, an officer said he could see the argument taking place and Kirk throwing the woman’s phone, the complaint said. Kirk is seen backing out of a parking space and driving toward the woman. As the woman stood in front of the vehicle, Kirk slashed her tires to the left and slowly walked toward her before accelerating and hitting the woman with the passenger mirror, knocking her to the ground, police said.

Kirk was recorded driving recklessly through the parking lot before walking around the back of the store, the complaint said.

A Lower Burrell police detective reported finding the SUV in a parking lot at Craigdell Garden Apartments. New Kensington police found Kirk in her apartment and arrested her.

Kirk did not have an attorney listed in the lawsuits.

She was arraigned Monday evening and sent to the Westmoreland County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 5 at 10 a.m.

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news from New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. Brian, a native of Pittsburgh and a graduate of Penn State University’s Schreyer Honors College, has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at [email protected].