Inmate charged with assaulting officers
A former Allegheny County Jail inmate was charged with multiple counts of assault Monday in an October tussle that injured five correctional officers.
John W. Hirschfield, 34, of Scott, is accused of breaking one officer’s hand, biting another and choking a third during the Oct. 5 fight in the intake area of the jail.
Hirschfield, listed in court documents as 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, was in the intake area around 8:40 p.m. when another inmate bumped into him, according to a criminal complaint.
Hirschfield yelled racial slurs at the other inmate and jumped over a row of chairs. He knocked a correctional officer to the ground, with his hands around her neck, according to the complaint. The other correctional officers intervened and were also attacked.
Hirschfield had been jailed on warrants in Butler County and Allegheny County. He now is being held in Butler County, charged with felony counts of assault and aggravated harassment, plus misdemeanor assault, reckless endangerment and strangulation.
Dog owners face new responsibilities
Dog owners in Pittsburgh soon will be held accountable if their canine companions run loose and bite someone.
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday passed a bill authorizing a fine of $350, plus costs, if it is found that a resident’s dog bit someone “without provocation while running at large.” For each subsequent offense, the penalty would spike to $1,000 per incident.
Council voted 8-0 to pass the legislation. The bill now goes to Mayor Bill Peduto, who intends to sign it, his spokesman said.
A pet “owner,” as defined by the city’s Bureau of Animal Care and Control, is someone who keeps or shelters an animal on their property, whether or not they own it.
Heroin discovery sends man to court
Drug charges against a 25- year-old Bloomfield man were held for court Tuesday after Pittsburgh police found 57 bricks of heroin and thousands of dollars in two homes connected with the man.
David Mitchell faces two felony drug counts and a misdemeanor after a fourmonth investigation that culminated last week after detectives searched an apartment on Negley Avenue and Mitchell’s home on Ella Street, according to court records.
Investigators stopped Mr. Mitchell as he left the East Liberty apartment Feb. 27. They served a search warrant and said they found 57 bricks of heroin — about 2,850 stamp bags.
Then they executed a search warrant for Mr. Mitchell’s home in the 200 block of Ella Street. There, they found $20,000 in cash.
Mr. Mitchell was released from the Allegheny County Jail on Feb. 28 on a $2,500 bond.
Boy’s cause of death pending
An Arlington man is being held without bond as prosecutors await word on the manner of death of a 3year-old boy.
Jamal Williams, 21, is charged with receiving stolen property and firearms counts after he was arrested Feb. 15 in Carrick.
Police were searching for him on a probation violation as well as for questioning in the death of Major Troutman, 3, who died the day before at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer DiGiovanni told Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski Tuesday that Major died of head injuries, and that doctors believe it was caused by abuse.
The county medical examiner’s office is awaiting consultation from a neuropathologist before determining whether the boy’s death is a homicide. Major was taken to Children’s on Feb. 6 and died eight days later.
According to an court documents, the Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force located Williams at a home on Merritt Avenue on Feb. 15. During a search, officers found a handgun that had been previously been reported as stolen.