News

Activist, former mayoral candidate opts for assault trial

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A community activist and former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate decided against pleading guilty to charges that he fought with a neighbor and police who then tried to arrest him and will instead stand trial next month.

According to Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE, Monday's court appearance by 38-year-old A.J. Richardson is the latest stemming from an ongoing series of legal troubles.

Authorities said Richardson appeared to be intoxicated when officers responded to the neighborhood dispute last September.

He's since been charged, along with his wife, of making more than 100 bogus 911 calls in an apparent attempt to make it appear he was being persecuted by city police.

He also pleaded guilty to drunken driving during his mayoral campaign last year, during which he received less than 1 percent of the vote in the May Democratic primary.

RELATED STORIES: