Slain Pa. Police Officer's Cruiser Put Up for Auction

Jan. 29, 2013
Penn Hills officials were disturbed after Travler's Insurance made the cruiser available for auction.

Officials in Penn Hills are "disturbed" that the bullet hole-scarred police cruiser Officer Michael Crawshaw's drove the night he was killed was put up for auction online, the municipality's manager said.

"Everybody was pretty upset," Penn Hills manager Mohammed Rayan said today. "This is not what we wanted."

On Dec. 6, 2009, Ronald Robinson shot Officer Crawshaw to death after the officer responded to a call for shots fired in a drug dispute.

When Officer Crawshaw arrived, Robinson fired at least twelve rounds from his AK-47, striking both Officer Crawshaw and his police cruiser.

More than three years later, the cruiser was turned over to the municipality's insurance company for either resale or destruction. Images of the vehicle show at least four bullet holes in the windshield and several more on the body.

Travler's insurance instead put the car up for auction.

"We regret that there wasn't more sensitivity exercised given this unique and tragic situation and apologize for any distress this may have caused and we are actively working with the town to properly handle the vehicle," Travler's spokesman Matt Bordonaro said.

It is not clear where the car is or who is responsible for it, he said.

The general manager of the Ellwood City Copart, the site that listed the vehicle, declined to comment.

Copyright - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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