New Florence man granted bail on police assault charges, detained on prior case

A former New Florence man accused of assaulting a police officer at his home last year was granted bond Friday, but he remains in jail on a parole detainer pending a hearing later this month.

Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio granted Ray A. Shetler Jr.’s motion for nominal bond, set at $1. Shetler’s defense attorney, Michael Garofalo, said Westmoreland County prosecutors have taken too long to bring his case to trial.

Shetler, who is a resident of Saltsburg, has been in jail since December. Last year, the 38-year-old was charged with aggravated assault, disarming of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest after members of the state police and county sheriff’s department attempted to arrest him on an outstanding warrant at a mobile home in Seward.

During the incident, Shetler and a sheriff’s deputy were injured. Shetler was shot in the eye with a Taser.

On Friday, Bilik-DeFazio also ordered all Taser reports relevant to the incident to be downloaded and provided to the defense. The prosecution has maintained that just one Taser was fired during the incident, but Garofalo believes more than one officer used a Taser.

Shetler remains detained on a prior probation and parole case. A motion to lift his detainer is scheduled for Oct. 31.

In 2018, Shetler was convicted at trial for vehicle theft stemming from an attempt to escape from police after the fatal shooting of St. Clair Township police Officer Lloyd Reed, who was responding to a domestic disturbance call from Shetler’s girlfriend.

Shetler said he didn’t know Reed was a police officer and shot Reed thinking he was defending himself. He was found not guilty of Reed’s murder.