Sharon Hill cop charged with assault

SHARON HILL POLICE Officer Stephen Capizzi said he was going out for cigarettes when he left the Delaware County police station about 7 p.m. Dec. 5.

But he apparently decided to channel his inner Harvey Keitel at a nearby trolley stop by patting down two guys for marijuana they didn't have, throwing a woman to the ground and attempting to "body slam" a fourth person before gut-punching him while he was handcuffed, according to a bizarre criminal complaint filed against Capizzi yesterday.

Capizzi, 27, a part-time Sharon Hill cop also employed by the Southeast Delco School District, was charged yesterday with attempted assault, official oppression, tampering with public records and filing a false police report.

"These were citizens who were standing on the street corner waiting for the trolley," said Erica Parham, spokeswoman for Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green. "We have not been given any explanation as to his state of mind."

In an arrest report, county detectives say that Capizzi pulled up to the Sharon Hill trolley stop, approached two males and searched them, asking, "Where's the weed?" He then shoved a woman to the ground and leaned his "entire body weight" on her, the report says.

"One of the assisting officers instructed Officer Capizzi to stop, noting that the complainant was not resisting," Green's office said in a statement.

Then Capizzi allegedly threw a man against a wall and tried to body-slam him. After the man's hands were handcuffed behind his back, Capizzi socked him in the abdomen, according to the arrest report.

To top it off, Capizzi later altered the police report, authorities say. He originally had reported that police received a call about disorderly subjects at the trolley stop, but he allegedly changed it to say that he observed an argument there while driving on Chester Pike.

Sharon Hill cops told investigators that no such call was received at police headquarters that night. Capizzi, who has been suspended, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.