Pittsburgh police Acting Chief Scott Schubert said today that he agrees with an officer's decision to initially charge Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter with assault but also respects the district attorney, whose office plans to withdraw the most serious charges.
Chief Schubert addressed reporters one day after the office of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. announced that it plans to withdraw the most serious charges against Mr. Porter after viewing surveillance footage of a dispute he had with a police officer outside a bar on the South Side.
Speaking from police headquarters on the North Side, Chief Schubert said the charges — including felony aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest and defiant trespass -— were approved by a police supervisor when they were filed.