Man charged with kicking officer pleads guilty to assault
A Butler man charged with assaulting a police officer pleaded guilty in Butler County Court on Thursday.
Richard J. Ealy, 26, pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor resisting arrest before county Judge William Shaffer.
The plea agreement calls for a sentence of one year minus one day to two years minus one day — with parole after completion of the county's three-month reintegration program — 12 months consecutive probation, restitution and fines.
He is set to be sentenced on Thursday.
Ealy also was initially charged with misdemeanor simple assault, disorderly conduct and summary harassment, all of which were dismissed per the plea.
The charges stem from an incident on Feb. 10 on West Quarry Street.
Police were looking for Ealy in relation to a protection from abuse order violation at Sunbury Estates in Center Township which resulted from a domestic dispute.
During that incident, according to court documents, he had gotten into an altercation with Alora G. Southworth, 25, of Butler that left both of them with minor injuries.
Later, police said, it was discovered that Southworth has a protection from abuse order against Ealy. Police noted that while the PFA allows the suspect to have contact with Southworth, he is barred from abusing, harassing or threatening her.
Ealy was later found at the home, and when the officers tried to arrest him, he resisted, kicking a trooper in the head.
He was arraigned and held in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 bail.
