PITTSBURGH - Former Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff addressed rumors that in the fall of 2005, she was arrested in connection with a disturbance outside the home of her friend, Mrs. Edna Farkowitz, 86 of Squirrel Hill, where she was attending a meeting of her bridge club. Masloff explained that she was caught in a crowd that pushed forward to gain entrance to Ms. Farkowitz's home. "Myself and other individuals in the front were really not even in control of ourselves," she said. "We couldn't control ourselves because of the force from behind." Officer Hoehn aggressively attempted to maintain order. "I told him who I was, and I told him I didn't appreciate the way he was treating my fellow bridge players, and I didn't appreciate the manner in which he represented the city of Pittsburgh," she said. "He expressed back to me that he didn't care for my opinion and didn't care what I had to say. But I didn't back down." The former mayor said she used language that he shouldn't have. "I said, 'You're a jerk,' is what I said." But, she added, "at no time did I physically contact the officer."
Officer Hoehn then handcuffed her and took her into Mrs. Farkowitz's living room. She sat, handcuffed and alone, for 10 or 15 minutes, she said. She was then taken into a security office Mrs. Farkowitz maintains in her den, and she and Officer Hoehn shook hands "like men," and agreed they both could have handled the situation better. Mayor Masloff said such incidents are common at Mrs. Farkowitz's house.
