Attorney found guilty evading arrest, other charges in connection with Greensburg traffic stop

Nov. 20—A Westmoreland County attorney was found guilty of three summary counts Monday in connection with a traffic stop last month in Greensburg.

District Judge Thomas S. Brletic found David E. Mulock, 38, of Murrysville, guilty of evading arrest, operating a vehicle without a valid inspection and improperly displaying his Volkswagen's license plate in the back window. The decision came after two videos were played in court — one recorded by Mulock and the second from a police dash camera — of the encounter with Officer William Newmyer.

In the video he recorded, Mulock is heard questioning Newmyer's Oct. 4 traffic stop in a parking lot on North Main Street while Newmyer was attempting to handcuff him.

Brletic admonished Mulock, who had been working as an assistant public defender in Westmoreland County, for not complying with the officer's commands or getting his license plate affixed properly.

"All this fuss for this case, I don't understand it," Brletic said.

He found Mulock not guilty of two summary counts — both for failure to provide his vehicle registration and driver's license. Mulock was ordered to pay $200 in fines.

Newmyer testified that he was watching traffic on North Main Street at 8:45 a.m. when he noticed a missing inspection sticker and license plate in the back window of a Volkswagen Mulock was driving. Newmyer followed the car to a parking lot where he turned on his lights for a traffic stop and instructed Mulock to get back inside his car.

"He said it wasn't a valid traffic stop," Newmyer testified. "It's not true or a defense."

Mulock walked about 25 feet away while the officer testified he told Mulock to stop repeatedly. Newmyer testified that he asked to see Mulock's vehicle registration and driver's license. The video Mulock shot did not show Newmyer making that request.

Newmyer said he grabbed Mulock by the arm while he walked away and pinned him against a parked vehicle. The cell phone Mulock was using to record the interaction was knocked from his hand.

"He wasn't being compliant," Newmyer said.

Mulock testified that he assumed he would get a citation in the mail as he had in past traffic stops involving Newmyer.

"My intention was to walk across the street and get coffee," he said. "It was not to evade the law."

Deputy Attorney General Morgan Camerlo withdrew misdemeanor counts of escape and resisting arrest at the start of the hearing. A misdemeanor count of evading arrest was downgraded to a summary.

Mulock was found not guilty on other, unrelated traffic tickets.

His employment status with Westmoreland County was unclear Monday afternoon.

"At this point, he's temporarily not (working with the public defender's office), but with the success we had today I think that'll go a long way towards helping him get reinstated, that's what we're hoping for," said defense attorney Tim Dawson after the hearing.

Mulock is on probation for a 2021 incident at Seven Springs Mountain Resort. A probation revocation hearing is scheduled for next week in Somerset County court. He previously was suspended from work after that arrest, but at some point returned to his duties.

Mulock was sentenced in February to one year of probation on a charge of disorderly conduct, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to that offense and public drunkenness.

Four state troopers said they found Mulock in a parking lot at the resort and he reportedly refused to let them see his identification card. Police reported Mulock appeared to be intoxicated and resisted their attempts to take him into custody.

According to the state Supreme Court's Judicial Disciplinary Board website, Mulock began practicing law in 2014 after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh Law School.

According to county records, Mulock began working for the county in 2016. He is a former law clerk for Westmoreland County Judge Timothy Krieger.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta by email at rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .