All day Monday, Louis Falconi heard students talk about what happened Saturday night at the Farrell-Sharon basketball game in Sharon.

Farrell students told of being sprayed with pepper spray, handcuffed and "brought to the ground" by policemen, he said.

"What I heard today was very, very ugly, what happened to our kids," said Falconi, a Farrell councilman and Farrell Area High School American government and U.S. history teacher.

Falconi, who was not at the game, said he realizes not every student was telling the truth, but he heard the same kinds of stories over and over again from students whom he considers honest.

"I don't think every kid up there is lying to me," he said.

What Falconi heard from students was backed up by three women who had relatives involved in the fracas.

Jacqueline Keller, who was not at the game, said her 17-year-old daughter was "drug out" of the gymnasium by police into a commons area as she tried to get away from a pepper spray sprayed by Sharon police and the growing instability.

"He said she was lashing out at him," Ms. Keller said, relaying what her daughter said a policeman told her. "She was trying to get out. The cop stopped her."

The girl was kneed in the back by police and hit in the face by the police batons commonly known as night sticks, said Ms. Keller, who called them billy clubs.

The girl was handcuffed and arrested, but has not been charged, she said.

"That was police brutality as far as I'm concerned," she said, adding that police kept parents away from their children.

The girl was able to go to school Monday but was still sore, Ms. Keller said.

Falconi said he had heard other students say they were sprayed by police when they were just trying to get out of the bleachers.

"That, to me, was just inappropriate," he said. "I know there were some kids who were Maced who didn't do anything wrong."

Elizabeth Anderson said her daughter was sprayed when she exited a bathroom in the commons area.

"They're making it look like the kids attacked them, and they didn't," she said.

Ms. Anderson's distrust of police in general was fueled by a June incident in which her 10-year-old son was hit by a Southwest Mercer County Regional police cruiser.

Police said the boy bicycled into the street while being chased by a dog, but Ms. Anderson claimed the policeman was driving too fast.

Jacqueline Anderson, the guardian for Elizabeth Anderson's daughter, said when she heard about the Sharon-Farrell incident, she rushed to the gym to find her granddaughter and get her out. She discovered her granddaughter on the floor.

"He had his knee on her neck and her arms up in the air," she said of a Sharon policeman, calling the Sharon police response "unnecessary force."

When asked about the comments, Sharon police Capt. Michael Menster said, "This thing is under investigation. It's going to be a very involved investigation. At the conclusion we will take appropriate action."

Falconi said Farrell Area High School Principal Charles Sanitate met Monday with Farrell students who were at the game and asked them to write down what they remember of the incident.

Falconi asked council to support Sanitate's probe and an investigation that he said Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Sgt. Riley Smoot has begun.

"It's something we, as a city council, owe to our citizens, particularly our students," said Falconi.

Smoot, who was at the game as a spectator, would not say whether he saw any questionable police behavior by Sharon cops.

"I can't answer that question," said Smoot, conflict specialist and Drug Awareness Resistance Education officer at Farrell schools.

Smoot said he and other school officials are cooperating with the investigations of Sharon police and Sharon school officials by talking to students.

"We're just assisting," he said, adding that he had heard some of the same stories from students that Falconi mentioned. "We're not out to get anybody."

The district would want to offer help to students who were victims or aggressors in the incident.

"We had some students who were possibly victims," Smoot said. "And we had some who were probably involved in an act, one way or another. We want to find out what we can from students, good or bad."

Southwest Police Chief Joseph Timko said members of his department were called to the scene to help break up the crowd.

"There is no investigation from this end," he said, outside of Smoot's involvement through the school district.

Sanitate acknowledged an investigation, calling it "standard procedure."

"Anytime you have a situation that involves schools, you have a lot of questions that have to be answered," he said.

Sanitate would not comment on what he has heard from students.

"Right now you have an incident," Sanitate said. "Before you can say what you have you have to look at everything. I haven't made any comment on any issue out there."

Sanitate and Smoot added that parental involvement will be key to their probe, in allowing students to talk to school officials, and the recollections of parents who were at the game.

Falconi encouraged parents and guardians to cooperate with Sanitate and Smoot.

"I think our community should investigate a little more than has been done," he said.

Mayor William Morocco said city officials will contact school and police representatives.

City Manager LaVon Saternow said this morning she had not talked to anyone from Southwest police or Farrell schools.

"I don't think it's going to get swept under the rug by any means," Falconi said, promising a public accounting of what officials discover. "It's too big."

Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett contributed to this report.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at

jpinchot@sharon-herald.com