Man wanted for allegedly firing 8 rounds at 2 people in Tarentum arrested on felony charges

Police arrested a man they say shot at least eight rounds at two people in Tarentum last month.

Steven Jermain Prezzie, 44, of the 800 block of Sixth Avenue in Brackenridge is charged with six felony counts, including aggravated assault, conspiracy and carrying a gun without a license, along with two counts of reckless endangerment.

Prezzie was released from custody on a $25,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled before District Judge Carolyn Bengel on July 12.

Police also charged Freedom Brown, 41, with two felony counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and two counts of making terroristic threats in connection with the June 12 shooting along Corbet Street in Tarentum.

She was released on an unsecured bond and also ordered to appear before Bengel on July 12 for her preliminary hearing.

Brown was arrested after Allegheny County Police responded to a request for assistance from Tarentum police when two people suffered minor injuries — cuts and bruises — while running from the gunfire.

Eight 9mm shell casings were found at the scene.

Officers responded at about 2:45 a.m. to the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Corbet Street, near the railroad tracks, for a report of shots fired.

Investigators said they were able to view video of the incident that was captured on borough security cameras.

When officers arrived they found a woman who reported that she was shot in the leg, but police learned it was, instead, a cut to her knee.

Police said a second victim suffered cuts to the hand while running from the gunshots.

According to the criminal complaints filed against Brown and Prezze, the victims appeared to be having an argument with Brown before the shooting.

The two parties were on opposite sides of the railroad tracks, with the victims at East Fifth Avenue and Corbet Street. That’s when a light-colored Buick SUV pulled up and two unidentified men got out, police said.

“Brown points in the direction of victim 1 and victim 2,” the criminal complaint stated.

The man driving the SUV, later identified as Prezze, raised a handgun and fired eight shots in the direction of victims. Then Brown got in the SUV with the men and drove away, the complaint said.

Police found an SUV matching the description of the one involved in front of Brown’s home along Sixth Avenue in Brackenridge. They impounded the vehicle.

Tarentum officers found Brown walking nearby and took her into custody.

Police used the registration for the SUV to learn that it was owned by a man in Springdale, who told them that the vehicle was registered in his name but usually was driven by his brother.

The man’s brother told police that he loaned the vehicle to Prezzie and gave them his telephone number and an address, the complaint said.

The address, police said, was the same house where the SUV was found after the shooting.

When police got a warrant to search Brown’s telephone they found the number provided by the SUV owner with a photo of Prezzie attached, the complaint said.

The telephone also showed that calls were made to Prezzie before, during and after the shooting, police said.

Investigators said the incident began with an argument at the Marathon gas station near the foot of the Tarentum Bridge. The victims said they were out having drinks and ran into Brown at the gas station.

The male victim got into an argument with Brown, who, according to police, told the pair, “I’m gonna get my (expletive) to kill you.”

Brown told police she felt disrespected by a man at the gas station, who called her a name and pushed her.

Footage from the gas station shows Brown and the male victim pushing each other, police said. No distinguishable threats could be heard on gas station footage because of the amount of shouting that was happening, according to police.

Brown left the Marathon station before the pair she was fighting with, police said, but encountered them again near the railroad tracks.

Brown told police she “saw three cars near the intersection and heard loud bangs,” the complaint said.

She told police she didn’t see where the bangs came from but said they sounded like fireworks. Brown told police that she then ran home, the complaint said.

Police said Brown has distinguishable features with long, blonde braids and was seen on surveillance footage at the scene.