A Homeowner Helped Officers Subdue A Man Who Refused To Leave Property

LOWER MORELAND, PA — A local resident who reported a suspicious person outside of his home late last month had to assist police in subduing the man after the suspect allegedly refused to leave the property and tried to engage in a fight with police.

The Lower Moreland Police Department said that officers responded to a property in the area of Red Lion Road on April 24 for a report of a suspicious person in the backyard of a local residence.

Upon arrival, officers encountered a man who was trespassing on the private property and refusing to leave, according to police.

Officers said they tried to engage with the suspect, but that he refused to comply with their demands to leave the property.

The suspect, identified as Aleh Kazhemiaka, would not provide identification to officers, he took "aggressive postures" and stared officers "up and down, as if to measure for a fight," according to the police department.

Officers said they eventually made the decision to take Kazhemiaka into custody and charge him with defiant trespass, but Kazhemiaka put up a fight and it took four officers, with the homeowner's assistance, in order to place him under arrest, according to police.

Even after he was handcuffed Kazhemiaka refused to comply and officers had to physically move him off of the property and into the back of a patrol car, police stated.

Court records show that Kazhemiaka was arraigned on April 24 before Magisterial District Judge Albert Augustine.

He is being charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct as well as two defiant trespass misdemeanor counts.

Records show that Kazhemiaka was sent to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after failing to post bail.

A preliminary hearing had been scheduled for Monday morning before Magisterial District Judge Jay S. Friedenberg.