A man police have mentioned, but not charged, in connection with the killing of a Mercer County doctor is in trouble with the law again.
McKeesport police said Damian Bradford assaulted a police officer today during an arrest for public drunkenness.
Police were searching for another man, Shaun Seidling, 23, on a disturbance call just before 3 a.m. and went to Packer Street, where they knew he had relatives. They found Mr. Seidling at the wheel of a parked minivan.
They said in court papers that they saw Seidling pass something to a back seat passenger, who they identified as Mr. Bradford.
Officers first asked Mr. Seidling to get out and they patted him down. Then they asked Mr. Bradford to do the same. During the pat-down, Mr. Bradford began demanding to know why he was being stopped and became belligerent, police said.
Police told him he was being arrested for public drunkenness and he resisted attempts to cuff him, reported Officer Jamie Kwiecinski. Officer Kwiecinski said he fell as he struggled with Mr. Bradford and that Mr. Bradford elbowed him in the face.
Mr. Bradford was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and public drunkenness.
At an arraignment today, District Judge Thomas Brletic of McKeesport set bail at $100,000 and said Beaver County's parole office would be notified about Mr. Bradford's arrest.
Mr. Bradford was identified in May as a "person of interest" in the case of Dr. Gulam Moonda, who was slain during an apparent robbery on the Ohio Turnpike on May 13. Police raided Mr. Bradford's Beaver County apartment after it became known that he was a friend of Dr. Moonda's wife.
Police found an illegal steroid and charged him. They also sought to keep Mr. Bradford in jail, saying the steroid charge was a violation of his parole on an earlier charge.
In November, Mr. Bradford was released from jail after serving a minimum term for the steroids and the parole violation.
At the time, his lawyer indicated that Mr. Bradford hoped to become a drug and alcohol counselor.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First Published: January 5, 2006, 5:00 a.m.
