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A former college football All-American claims that police harassed him when they questioned him for parking under the Jerome Avenue Bridge on Aug. 30.

Bob Mulgado's accusation carries a particular sting because the Riverview Street man is also a retired city police detective with 29 years' service.

Mulgado, who is African-American, complained last week to council that a police officer targeted him solely because of his race.

"I know why he questioned me --- because I was sitting in a pretty nice car, a Cadillac, and because I'm black," he said.

Police Chief Joe Pero told the Almanac that the officer, who was not identified, was actually concerned that Mulgado, who is in his early 70s, was ill or in need of medical assistance.

The incident happened at around 8:30 p.m., just after sunset. When the police officer on a routine patrol shined his spotlight on Mulgado's car, Pero said, Mulgado didn't move.

"Initially, he didn't know if the driver might have passed out," Pero said.

Mulgado, a graduate of McKeesport High School and Arizona State University and a member of both schools' halls of fame, played three seasons for the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Saskatchewan Rough Riders.

Following service in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s, he became a McKeesport police officer.

The area where Mulgado was parked adjoins the McKees Point Marina and the Palisades. Mulgado said he was relaxing in his car, listening to the radio, when the police wagon stopped.

The officer "said I was sitting in my car under the bridge and it looked suspicious," he said. "I told him, 'What was I going to do, steal the bridge?'"

A police supervisor and another patrolman responded to the scene, and Mulgado --- who admitted that he became upset with the officers --- was searched and frisked.

Although Mulgado was not charged, the incident left a sour taste in his mouth. He was particularly offended that he was asked if there were "drugs or weapons" in the car.

But Pero said the question is typically one of the first made by any police officer who makes a traffic stop. "If you're checking out a vehicle, you always ask (the driver) if there are any drugs or weapons in the vehicle," he said.

Pero said last week that he was questioning the other officers involved --- one of whom was also African-American --- and would be in touch with Mulgado to resolve the disagreement.

. . .

In Other Business: Council last week by 5-0 vote rejected an agreement with Allegheny County regarding the city's share of the repairs to the W.D. Mansfield Memorial Bridge. Councilors Richard Dellapenna and Loretta Diggs were absent.

The Monongahela River span connecting 10th Ward and Glassport with Dravosburg is slated for complete rehabilitation next year.

Glassport and the city are responsible for a portion of the cost of rebuilding the ramps on the southern shore. Mayor James Brewster recommended that council turn down the agreement because the municipalities' share is still being negotiated.

The county had originally requested $50,000, Brewster said, but has now asked for $150,000.

. . .

Also by 5-0 votes, city council:

• Accepted the terms of an agreement with the state Department of Transportation to repave West Fifth Avenue between the Jerome Avenue Bridge and Ramp Two;


• Approved a five-year agreement with PennDOT over salting and plowing state-owned roads during the winter;


• Named V. Fawn Walker and Corey Sanders to the board of directors of the Downtown Business Authority; and


• Named A.J. Tedesco to the board of the McKeesport Industrial Development Authority.

Walker, a family therapist, and Tedesco, an employee of the Allegheny County Department of Court Records, won Democratic nominations for two of three city council seats open at the end of this year. Barring successful write-in opposition, they are expected to win election in November. Sanders is owner of Kool Kutz barber shop, Downtown.