A 30-year-old Upper Burrell Township man is facing a slate of felony charges after prosecutors say he burst through the back door of a home with a knife raised above his head and lunged at a responding police officer, screaming that he would kill him. Marco Ciappetta was taken into custody following the confrontation on Irwin Drive, which began as a reported physical domestic dispute with a relative on August 20.
Officer Suffers Hand Injury During Struggle
According to the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office, Ciappetta ran through the rear door of the home carrying the knife, thrusted it downward toward an approaching officer's head, and yelled, “I am going to kill you.” The officer managed to disarm and detain Ciappetta until backup arrived, but sustained a laceration to his hand near his wrist during the struggle, an injury the DA's office described as minor. As reported by WTAE, Upper Burrell police had responded to the home after a report of a physical domestic dispute and requested backup from surrounding departments before the officer confronted Ciappetta.
Court paperwork obtained by the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office lists six charges against Ciappetta: aggravated assault, assault on a law enforcement officer, simple assault, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, and possession of an instrument of crime with intent. Police attempted to speak with Ciappetta before the confrontation escalated, according to the station's report. A relative told police Ciappetta did not have access to firearms but did have access to knives, a detail investigators noted while assessing the threat.
Suspect Has History of Police Confrontations
WTAE's reporting notes that Ciappetta has prior incidents involving assaults on law enforcement, though no additional detail on those earlier cases was disclosed. The home where the confrontation occurred sits in Upper Burrell Township but carries a New Kensington mailing address, according to the DA's office, a quirk of how rural Westmoreland County addresses often overlap with neighboring postal zones.
Upper Burrell Township is a small, rural municipality covering 15.6 square miles with roughly 2,326 residents, per Upper Burrell Township. The township's police department operates with just two full-time sworn officers, according to FBI law enforcement data, which helps explain why the responding officer immediately called for mutual-aid backup from surrounding departments during the high-risk domestic call.
What the Charges Could Mean
Under Pennsylvania law, aggravated assault against a police officer performing official duties is graded as a felony carrying a penalty of up to 10 to 20 years in prison upon conviction, according to the state statute cited by the PA General Assembly. The weapon-related count against Ciappetta, possession of an instrument of crime with intent to employ it criminally, is graded as a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to five years in prison under a separate section of state law.
National data compiled by the FBI's Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted program shows that disturbance calls, including domestic violence incidents, account for more than 31 percent of officer attack injuries nationwide, making them the single largest category of assaults on police. That statistic underscores why domestic dispute calls like the one on Irwin Drive are considered especially dangerous for officers arriving on scene before backup can catch up.
The case adds to a string of recent violent incidents in Westmoreland County involving domestic disputes and knives. In March, a 29-year-old county man was arrested and charged with attempted criminal homicide after allegedly stabbing his stepfather multiple times during a domestic altercation in Trafford. All charges against Ciappetta remain allegations at this stage, and he has not been convicted of any offense.
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