Slain man known by local cops
A man who was shot and killed by Port Authority police in Allegheny County on Sunday after they said he fatally stabbed a police dog while brawling with officers had an extensive criminal record in Washington County that dates back nearly two decades.
Bruce T. Kelley Jr., 37, formerly of Washington, died of multiple gunshot wounds after the incident that occurred at a busway in Wilkinsburg, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Tuesday.
“There were quite a few arrests (of Kelley) by us,” Washington police chief Bob Wilson said Tuesday. “Some of the crimes were serious crimes.”
One of the most serious offenses occurred in September 1999 when Kelley – eight days before he turned 21 – was charged with indecent assault and corruption of minors.
According to court paperwork, four female juveniles told police a man, later identified as Kelley, gave coins bearing pictures of naked women to three of the girls while they were playing in an alley in the 100 block of Hall Avenue.
They said the man also gave them playing cards that had his name and phone number on them and gave money to two of the girls in an attempt for them not to tell anyone about the incident. Two of the girls reported the man touched them on their chests and buttocks.
Kelley pled guilty to corruption of minors and was sentenced to six to 23 months in jail.
Kelley also had repeated contact with Washington police over the years involving incidents of loitering and theft.
“The officers remember him walking around town,” Wilson said. “There were a few open container and public drunkenness (incidents). We had numerous contacts with him.”
The first court record of an arrest involving Kelley in Washington County was in 1997 when he was 18 and charged with taking a black hat from J.C. Penney at the Washington Mall. A judge fined Kelley over the incident.
In 2011, Kelley was charged with burglary after police said he kicked in the back door of Trapazano’s Tuxedos and fled when police arrived. Kelley later was apprehended and sentenced to 15 to 30 months in jail and a drug and alcohol evaluation. At the conclusion of his incarceration, Kelley went to an inpatient treatment program drug that included out-patient mental health treatment.
According to court records, the most recent contact Kelley had with Washington County law enforcement officers was Oct. 6, 2014, in the 900 block of Chartiers Avenue in Washington. Police said Kelley was in a fenced area on property that did not belong to him. When asked to identify himself, Kelley told police he was “Tommy Gun.” When police told Kelley to stop, he ran, according to court records. Police unsuccessfully attempted to stop Kelley by using a Taser. Police eventually brought Kelley to the ground “as he continued trying to fight with officers and refused to place his hands behind his back.”
Just days earlier, Kelley was arrested for taking an air conditioning unit from a Chartiers Street home and received jail time through a guilty plea. Two years prior, Kelley was arrested by state police and charged with theft of an air conditioning unit on Euclid Avenue. Kelley pleaded guilty and spent time in jail.
Both the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office and Port Authority said Tuesday an investigation continues to determine whether officers were justified in killing Kelley in the weekend incident, The officers have been placed on paid leave pending an internal review.
Port Authority has scheduled a memorial service Thursday at the Allegheny County Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial on the North Shore to honor the slain police dog.
A procession of police officers representing several departments will begin shortly before 11 a.m. from a staging area on the East Busway.
Port Authority of Allegheny County police contend Kelley Jr. and his father, Bruce Kelley Sr., 60, were drinking alcohol Sunday in a busway gazebo in Wilkinsburg before they fought with officers, who sent the K-9 after the younger man. Police killed Kelley Jr. after he fatally stabbed the dog, Aren, a 5-year-old German shepherd with four years on the transit police force.
Kelley’s father was jailed on aggravated assault and other charges. Online court records don’t list an attorney for Bruce Kelley Sr., who was unable to post $300,000 bail. The
The Associated Press contributed to this story.