One Dead, Multiple Hurt in Versailles Stabbing

McKeesport police officer, K-9 injured after suspect apprehended

By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
July 26, 2024
Posted in: Crime and Police News

What county detectives described as a night of smoking marijuana and drinking tequila in Versailles Borough ended up with one man dead, multiple people taken to local hospitals, and a McKeesport police officer and police dog injured.

Robert F. Kail, 40, of Peters Twp., Washington County, was being held Friday afternoon in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting arraignment on charges that include homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, assault on a police officer, assaulting a police animal and making terroristic threats.

The victim, Vincent “Vin” Bazzone, 38, of Versailles, was pronounced dead Thursday night at the scene of the violent incident from what Allegheny County police described as multiple stab wounds.

Kail is being held without bond pending a preliminary hearing Aug. 2 in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.

A criminal complaint states that Kail was interviewed at UPMC McKeesport hospital Thursday night. Police allege Kail said that he and Bazzone were “drinking Patron and smoking weed” when they began to argue and a fight ensued.

Two people who lived in the Worthington Street duplex next to Bazzone, who attempted to call for help, were themselves assaulted by Kail, Allegheny County police allege, with an unidentified male suffering stab wounds and his wife being held in a headlock.

According to a criminal complaint, Versailles police were dispatched Thursday night to a duplex near the intersection of Vine and Worthington streets for a report of a man with a gun.

Police arrived to find Bazzone suffering multiple stab wounds and lying on the front porch of the duplex, the complaint states. The neighbors reported that a suspect, later identified as Kail, had stabbed Bazzone and fled in a white Toyota Camry in the direction of McKeesport.

The complaint states that the neighbors heard a loud noise — like someone falling down the stairs — from the upstairs apartment and went outside to investigate. There, they told police, they found Bazzone on the front porch asking for help.

The neighbors, whose names were not released by police, went back inside to call 9-1-1 when the suspect, Kail, is accused of entering the house and knocking down the male victim.

Police allege Kail then picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed the man, causing a severe laceration on his hand.

Police said the male victim fought back and pulled Kail’s shirt off, causing him to flee. The victim then retrieved a handgun from a bedroom and returned to the front porch area, according to the complaint, where police allege he found Kail holding his wife in a headlock.

Police said Kail threatened to kill both victims, but after being confronted with the gun, took his dog and fled the scene.

The victim and a witness nearby who observed the activities on the porch wrote down the license number of the fleeing car, according to the complaint.

The male victim was taken to AHN Jefferson Hospital, then transferred to Allegheny General Hospital, North Side, for treatment of the knife wound, police said.

A few minutes later, according to Allegheny County police, McKeesport officers spotted a Toyota sedan matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle on Walnut Street at Shaw Avenue and stopped the vehicle, taking the driver, identified by police as Kail, into custody.

Police allege that when they were attempting to process Kail at the McKeesport police station, he became agitated and fought with police officers, picking up McKeesport police Sgt. Shelly Gould and slamming him into a wall.

Kail is then accused by Allegheny County police of attacking McKeesport police dog Moxie, slamming the dog to the ground and choking her.

Police said Kail had to be sedated under a physician’s directions and was transported to UPMC McKeesport Hospital.

Detectives located two knives at the Worthington Street scene, along with a blood-stained T-shirt identified as belonging to Kail.

Calls to McKeesport officials about the condition of Gould and Moxie were not immediately returned at press time. According to detectives, Gould suffered injuries to his neck, back and knee and was taken to an area hospital. Moxie suffered abrasions and cuts and was taken to a veterinary hospital, according to Allegheny County detectives.

Originally published July 26, 2024.

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