Resident alleges Altoona Police opened investigation despite exculpatory video; council refers matter to police

A resident identified in the meeting record as Ben used the meeting chat on Sept. 5 to accuse the Altoona Police of opening a criminal investigation against him despite his having provided video and photographic evidence that he said showed others committing crimes against him.

Ben wrote that he had provided the police with footage, including Altoona Police body-camera video, and that the department was nonetheless treating him as the aggressor. He also said the department had “mocked” him in an email from what he identified as Chief Greg Stallman. Ben asked why the police were not enforcing the law against the people who had filed reports against him and asked the council to explain why he was not being allowed to speak aloud at the meeting.

Mayor Dean O’Connor told Ben the matter was a standard police question and that he would allow Police Department staff, represented in the meeting record by Todd Trobaugh, to address the issue. The meeting transcript shows no substantive reply from police staff during the public-comment sequence and records Ben reporting his microphone was not working. The council did not take formal action on the complaint during the meeting; the record indicates the matter was to be handled by the police department rather than the council.

The claim about the department’s conduct and the alleged body-camera footage remain unresolved in the meeting record. The transcript does not include a departmental response on the record during the meeting, nor does it document any evidence review or formal referral beyond the mayor’s direction that police handle the situation.