Ex-cop facing trial on assault charges
CONNELLSVILLE – A former South Connellsville police officer will stand trial in Fayette County Court on charges he assaulted and intimidated a witness while he was working for the department. Daniel “Bert” Leasher, 33, of 113 Reagan Road, Mount Pleasant, is charged with two counts each of simple assault and official oppression and one count of retaliation against a witness stemming from the incidents that allegedly took place from March to September 2001.
Although Leasher’s legal counsel, attorney Mark Morrison, asked that the charges be dismissed on the grounds that prosecutors had failed to prove their case during Friday’s preliminary hearing, District Justice Ronald Haggerty held the five charges for court.
According to testimony, during the course of the March 18, 2001, arrest of Michael Adams, Leasher assaulted the man and proceeded over the subsequent months to intimidate a 13-year-old boy, who he believed had witnessed the incident, and the child’s family.
Marian Leos told Deputy Attorney General Margaret Cassidy that Leasher and officer Joe Lane came to the Pittsburgh Street apartment where she and Adams resided to place him under arrest for an incident that had taken place earlier in the evening.
During the course of the arrest, said Leos, Leasher and Adams became involved in a melee, and the officer used Mace to subdue and handcuff him.
“Bert drug him off the couch and into the entranceway,” Leos testified. “Then, Bert drug him to the (police) car.”
Leos told Cassidy that she then went outside and watched Leasher strike the handcuffed Adams several times in the face.
Crystal Poli told Cassidy she heard a commotion next door and looked out a living room window and watched Adams being put into the police cruiser.
“I saw Mike being dragged out by the back of his coat,” said Poli, adding that she witnessed Leasher strike Adams three times.
Her younger brother, William Poli, said that upon exiting the apartment, he saw Leasher looking at his hand in the headlights of the police car, and the officer told him to return to the residence.
South Connellsville police officer Joseph Lane testified that he accompanied Leasher to the Adams and Leos apartment, and he intervened and assisted in the arrest after Adams became combative and punched Leasher in the face.
“Did you actually see an assault of Michael Adams?” Morrison asked during cross-examination.
“No,” said Lane, adding that he had stayed inside with Leos while Leasher took Adams to the car.
Lane denied seeing any blood on Adams as the three traveled to Highlands Hospital, but he later knew Adams required several stitches for an injury he suffered to his mouth.
“What did the back seat of the (police) car look like when you saw it later?” Cassidy asked.
“There was an extremely large amount of blood,” Lane said.
In July, Adams, who had been incarcerated after violating his parole, hanged himself in his jail cell.
William Poli said that after the incident, he often saw Leasher in the alley outside his home and more often at his school, where Leasher served as an officer.
The boy testified that on one occasion, Leasher removed him from his classroom, and as they were exiting the room, he pushed him into the door and caused a bruise on his head.
Teacher Colleen Kostelnik said she had not summoned Leasher to the classroom, adding that William Poli was behaving until Leasher entered the room.
“I heard Billy call Bert “pig” and “go eat donuts,” but Billy would move to another seat and Bert would move behind him,” Kostelnik testified.
She told Cassidy that Leasher’s behavior was “not normal” and that she later reported the incident to her superiors.
Susan Poli testified that her son, who does have emotional and behavioral problems, no longer played outdoors by himself after the incident.
“I told him (Leasher) to let my son alone, but he told me he had a gun and a badge and could do what he wanted,” said Susan Poli.
Haggerty agreed to maintain Leasher’s $25,000 percentage bond, provided that he continue to adhere to the bond conditions and not have any contact with the witnesses or alleged victims.