Another state Gaming Control Board employee is facing legal woes after an altercation with off-duty police officers on the South Side early yesterday morning.

Justin Husar, 26, identified by police as an agent for the gaming board, was arrested after he apparently tried to get inside the Town Tavern on East Carson Street without paying the cover charge.

He has been charged with escape, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness in connection with the incident, which occurred about 1:30 a.m. He is the fifth gambling board employee to be arrested since August.

Yesterday's trouble began after Mr. Husar, of the South Side, was escorted out of the Town Tavern by an employee, screaming that the worker was "[expletive] wrong," according to the report by city police Sgt. William Vollberg, who was working an off-duty detail outside the bar.

Mr. Husar then approached Sgt. Vollberg and a second off-duty officer, Kenneth Stevwing and screamed, the report said, "You know he's wrong. I used to be a federal agent. I work for the Gaming Control Board. I showed him my tin (badge) and he's supposed to let me and my friends upstairs."

When Sgt. Vollberg asked Mr. Husar what he was referring to, Mr. Husar replied, "I showed him my tin. He tried to charge me and my friends a cover. You know that's [expletive] up."

Mr. Husar then was told several times to leave the area and was warned that he would be arrested if he did not. At one point, according to the report, Mr. Husar stuck his chest against Sgt. Vollberg's.

The report said that after Mr. Husar again stepped toward the off-duty officer and started shouting in his face, Sgt. Vollberg used a leg sweep to knock him off his feet. When he and Officer Stevwing tried to handcuff Mr. Husar, he resisted, got back to his feet, broke free and started running down East Carson. Mr. Husar was tackled when he tried to "run through" two other off-duty officers who were approaching. His face struck the ground, causing brushburns, according to the report.

As Mr. Husar continued to resist, Sgt. Vollberg struck him twice in the face with his fist, the report said, which subdued him enough to be handcuffed. He was taken to the Allegheny County Jail.

Mr. Husar could not be reached for comment yesterday evening. Nick Hays, a gaming board spokesman, also could not be reached.

Four other gambling board employees have had problems with the law. Last month, a employee with the board's Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement, was charged with falsifying an official background statement related to his education.

Two high-ranking board employees were charged in connection with separate fights and disturbances outside Harrisburg bars last year. Another employee has been charged with homicide in the death of a girlfriend who fell 23 stories from a building in February.