Former officer charged with assaulting ex-girlfriend
A former Crafton police officer has been charged with leaving his ex-girlfriend with several broken bones in an alleged assault at a Clay Township home.
State police filed a felony charge of aggravated assault against Donnie L. Breeden, 54, of Pittsburgh, following a Tuesday, Nov. 12 incident. He is being held in Butler County Prison in lieu of $40,000 bail.
Police interviewed the victim at Butler Memorial Hospital where she was being treated for injuries including a broken right orbital bone, broken nose, broken right wrist and a cut on her cheek that required stitches, according to an affidavit.
She told police Breeden, her ex-boyfriend, came to the home, dragged her out of the house to his car, broke her phone, drove down the road, punched her in the face, knocked her to the ground, kicked her numerous times and then fled, leaving her on the side of the road.
Breeden was arrested and arraigned Thursday. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 3.
This isn’t the first time Breeden has run afoul of the law. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of accidents involving death or injury in a fatal hit-and-run involving a pedestrian in 2007 in Pittsburgh. He pleaded no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to one to two years in prison.
In 2016, he pleaded guilty to one felony and nine misdemeanor drug charges filed by Allegheny County Police following a September 2013 incident in Green Tree. He was sentenced to 23 months of intermediate punishment followed by three years of probation.
Breeden had worked as an officer in the Crafton Borough Police Department for 15 years. A department official said Friday that he hasn’t worked there in the last 14 or 15 years.
