No charges to be filed against trooper who killed woman
GREENSBURG – No charges will be filed against the trooper who shot and killed an East Huntingdon Township woman who pointed a gun at the officer and his partner as they responded to call at her home. “As coroner, I have concluded that (state police) Trooper Angelo J. Bonesio was justified in using deadly force causing the death of Bonnie Bugosh because he believed that such force was necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself and (state police) Trooper Brian Fleck,” said Westmoreland County Coroner Kenneth A. Bacha during a Wednesday press conference.
Bonesio and Fleck were dispatched to Bugosh’s Laurel Hill apartment in response to a call concerning an altercation outside her residence on Feb. 23.
When Bugosh opened her door armed with a shotgun, Bonesio, 31, a nine-year veteran of the police force, fired a .40-caliber single gunshot that resulted in her death.
Bacha said his determination was based on the findings of Senior Judge Gilfert A. Mihalich, who presided over the May 30 inquest.
According to a report issued by Mihalich, about 11 p.m. several friends of Bugosh’s daughter became involved in an altercation when another individual came to the apartment.
After the fight ended everyone but Bugosh left the apartment to move their vehicles to safer locations to prevent any damage, said Mihalich.
Bugosh then took a shotgun from under a couch and retrieved a shell from the bedroom of her daughter.
“When the police took possession of the shotgun, the gun was not loaded, however, a live shotgun shell was found near the shotgun,” said Mihalich. “Whether the gun was loaded or unloaded is immaterial to the scope of my inquiry. It is the belief in the mind of Trooper Bonesio that is material and determinative.
“Under the circumstances confronting Trooper Bonesio it was reasonable for him to presume the gun was loaded.”
Mihalich also stated that testing determined Bugosh was intoxicated at the time of the incident.
Toxicology tests determined her blood alcohol content to be .267, more than two times greater than the .10 allowed by state law for the operation of motor vehicles.
Several neighbors, said Mihalich, testified that the officers identified themselves to Bugosh before she opened the apartment door.
The neighbors also stated that Bugosh threatened to kill the officers.
“Thereafter, Bonnie Bugosh opened the door with a shotgun in her hands postured in a ready-to-fire position and pointed it at the troopers,” stated Mihalich.
Based on Bacha’s recommendation, Westmoreland County John W. Peck said he would not file any criminal charges against Bonesio.