Robert Blume

A veteran of the U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan was sentenced Thursday to 15 to 30 months in jail and 24 years of probation for aggravated assault and a string of thefts which supplied what his lawyer called a serious heroin addiction.

According to police reports, Robert R. Blume, 34, of Aliquippa, assaulted Cranberry Township police officer Edward Steinmetz, who was trying to arrest him on Halloween in 2016 for stealing video games at Walmart and selling them to Game Stop in the Cranberry Mall. Steinmetz found Blume at the game store, but Blume was able to get away by fighting Steinmetz.

“At one point, the momentum of Blume's body and my body caused us to strike a storefront window in that corner of the store, causing the window to crack and spider from top to bottom,” Steinmetz wrote in the complaint.

Blume was eventually arrested on Thanksgiving that same year and charged in six separate cases, most of which related to theft, including an aggravated assault charge for attacking the officer.

Blume's ability to escape from police was more than just a lucky move. He had training in the U.S. military, where he served two tours of duty in Iraq and a third tour in Afghanistan, according to his lawyer, Stephen Misko, who spoke during Blume's sentencing Thursday in front of county Judge William Shaffer.

Blume stood by in a yellow jumpsuit from the county jail, while Misko noted that his client faces charges in nine other cases in Beaver County — also related to thefts — and all to fuel his addiction.

Misko said that Blume's military service was in active combat zones. During his last combat tour, Blume was injured by an improvised explosive device, causing a brain injury. Misko said Blume suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

To treat the pain, Misko said, Blume was given pain relief medication. He became addicted to the medication and later turned to heroin.

“He's fighting the addiction. God knows what he's been through,” Misko said. “Mr. Blume is a good man. Further incarceration wouldn't help him.”

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