Former world champion boxer Paul Spadafora agreed today to anger management classes during a preliminary hearing on charges of simple assault and harassment in connection with an incident in Crafton in April.
Pittsburgh attorney Phil DiLucente said Mr. Spadafora's charge of simple assault will be tossed, and a guilty plea to harassment will be on his record once the anger management classes are finished. He'll also pay a $300 fine.
Crafton Police filed the charges in April against Mr. Spadafora, 40, a McKees Rocks native who now resides in Pittsburgh's Westwood neighborhood.
In the at the Redstone Tavern in Crafton, Mr. Spadafora was accused of assaulting a 63-year-old woman at the bar. She did not seek medical treatment.
A few hours later that day, he allegedly pulled a knife on a convenience store manager in Manor, Armstrong County, and was charged with simple assault, harassment and public drunkenness.
Police said Mr. Spadafora was complaining that his car had broken down to the manager of a Sheetz store on Route 422 in Manor. The manager told police she could not understand what Mr. Spadafora was saying to her, and he responded by displaying a blueberry muffin in one hand and a knife in the other while yelling at her.
Mr. DiLucente said he was using the knife to spread cream cheese on the muffin. During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Mr. Spadafora pleaded guilty to a summary count of disorderly conduct.
As for the incident at the Crafton bar, the defense attorney said there is "question" over who began trouble with whom. The matter was resolved with the agreement to complete anger management classes then plead to harassment.
A onetime International Boxing Federation lightweight champion, he lived in Erie for a time after his release from jail and was attempting to rebuild his boxing career. Since returning to the Pittsburgh area, he has had a few brushes with the law in recent years, pleading guilty to drunken driving in 2012.
He spent time in state prison for shooting the mother of his child in October 2003.
Karen Kane: kkane@post-gazette.com or at 724-772-9180.
First Published: May 19, 2016, 6:41 p.m.