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Paul Spadafora works out in 2009.
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Charges withdrawn against Spadafora in convenience store incident

Peter Diana

Charges withdrawn against Spadafora in convenience store incident

Charges filed in April against former lightweight boxing champion Paul Spadafora stemming from an incident in which he allegedly pulled a knife on a convenience store manager in Armstrong County have been withdrawn, according to court records.

Mr. Spadafora, 40, of McKees Rocks was charged April 4 with simple assault, harassment and public drunkenness. 

Police said Mr. Spadafora was complaining that his car was 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.

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But defense attorney Phil DiLucente called the situation “a complete misunderstanding.” 

Mr. DiLucente said Mr. Spadafora did pull the knife that he carries with him, but he did so without malice and did not mean it to be a threat. 

“What he was using the knife for was to put some cream cheese on his muffin,” Mr. DiLucente said.

Several hours before the incident in Manor, police said, Mr. Spadafora was accused of assaulting a 63-year-old woman at Redstone Tavern in Crafton. Police said he put the woman in a headlock and threw her to the ground.

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Mr. Spadafora was separately charged with simple assault and harassment from that incident, and faces a preliminary hearing Thursday before District Judge Dennis Joyce in Crafton.

Mr. DiLucente said he’s hoping all charges also will be withdrawn in that situation, but there is not “an agreement at this juncture.”

Mr. Spadafora, who was known as “The Pittsburgh Kid,” and won the International Boxing Federation lightweight title in August 1999, has had numerous brushes with the law and spent time in state prison for shooting the mother of his child in October 2003. He pleaded guilty to drunken driving in 2012.

Andrew Goldstein: agoldstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1352.

First Published: May 17, 2016, 9:55 p.m.

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Paul Spadafora works out in 2009.  (Peter Diana)
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