Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers coach Joey Porter was given a citation for disorderly conduct in January resulting from an incident at a South Side bar following the teams Wild Card win over the Miami Dolphins. According to Porter’s attorney, Robert Del Greco, Porter is planning on pleading guilty.
According to the Associated Press, Porter is going to plead guilty to a disorderly conduct citation Tuesday afternoon. The citation reportedly carries up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Several weeks ago Porter had his original charges reduced from aggravated assault by the Allegheny County District Attorney and that followed the Steelers placing him on an indefinite leave, which turned out to be just a few days.
The initial police report of the incident indicated that Porter had a physical altercation with a bouncer who wouldn’t let him in a bar and then he allegedly grabbed a police officer’s wrists. It was later determined that all the charges didn’t fit and the police dropped everything except for the citations for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.
According to the police report filed after the incident, the bouncer stopped Porter and denied him access because he had threatened to kill him the last time he was there.
The complaint then alleges that:
“Porter lunged at [bouncer Jon] Neskow and grasped Neskow by his arms and lift[ed] him up off the ground. Porter let go of Neskow dropping him back down to the ground. Porter came to rest against a car parked directly in front of the establishment.”
The police officer, Paul Abel, then claimed that:
“Porter informed me that he was not touching me, as he was still holding my wrists…I believed that [Mr. Porter] was going to cause me serious injury.”
UPDATE: According to the AP, Porter has been fined $300 after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct. He was not sentenced to any jail time.
