Man accused of assaulting deputy sheriff has motion for release denied
Nov. 3—GREENSBURG, Pa. — A man acquitted of killing a St. Clair Township police officer in 2015 must remain in jail while awaiting trial on charges he assaulted a deputy sheriff last December.
Ray Shetler Jr., 38, appeared in court Monday seeking to have his detainer lifted while his case remains pending but a Westmoreland County judge denied it, online court documents show.
According to The Tribune-Review in Greensburg, Judge Megan Bilik-DeFazio issued her decision after arguments by both sides — and testimony from a Westmoreland County deputy and a state trooper who were involved in an effort to take Shetler into custody on a search warrant.
Shetler has been behind bars since a five-day search ended with him being arrested at a New Florence-area mobile home.
He was charged with aggravated assault and related charges after becoming combative with the team of law enforcement officials who arrived to take him into custody, police said then.
One investigator previously testified he suffered a concussion and torn rotator cuff during the altercation, adding that Shetler reached for the officer's gun at one point.
Shetler suffered an eye injury that required surgery after he was struck by a stun gun, his attorney said during his early 2022 preliminary hearing.
Shetler was on probation at the time for a conviction of a truck theft that occurred after he left the scene of the shooting that fatally injured Officer Lloyd Reed Jr. in 2015.
A Westmoreland County jury acquitted Shetler of homicide and other felony charges in 2018.
Shetler's defense attorney sought to have Shetler placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring during the latest case.
Prosecutors argued against that proposal, noting that Shetler fled authorities twice — first in 2015 following the shooting, and last year, after failing a drug test and failing to appear for a probation hearing.
Shetler's current case is set for a December trial, online court documents show.
