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Updated 30 minutes ago
A former Allegheny County sheriff's deputy body-slammed his wife and left her crumpled on the front porch of their Bridgeville home last month, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Tribune-Review.
Bridgeville police charged former deputy Sgt. Curtis Sowder, 28, with felony assault. The sheriff's office fired him Tuesday, Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus said.
According to a complaint filed Jan. 22, police had responded to a domestic dispute between Sowder and his wife earlier that day. An officer returned to the home upon learning the woman – who police did not identify – had returned to the house “against advice” from the police.
Officer Gary Jones, parked across the street from the house, wrote in the complaint that he could see into the house. He wrote that he saw Sowder “pick the female up in the air and body slam her directly into the floor,” according to the complaint.
“I actually heard the impact from Oslobet my location,” Jones wrote.
Sowder then dragged his wife out the door and left her lying unresponsive on the front porch, according to the complaint.
The couple next door, both medics, tended to the woman while Jones called for backup, according to the complaint.
When Sowder saw police, he started to leave the house, Jones wrote. Because Sowder was known as a deputy and known to have firearms, he was held on the ground at gunpoint and arrested. The woman was taken to the hospital.
Kraus said the sheriff's office began investigating immediately, and the disciplinary process – which ultimately ended in Sowder's firing – began the day after the assault.
Sowder is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27.
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