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CRIME

Police: Off-duty officer faces assault charge in road rage

Associated Press
Published | Updated

PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh police officer pointed a gun at someone during an off-duty road rage encounter and has been charged with simple assault and placed on paid administrative leave, the city announced Wednesday.

The officer, Robert Kramer, 28, at first denied owning the silver-colored revolver allegedly used in the May 3 encounter, but police internal investigators found a sales record for the gun and the weapon itself at his home last month, according to the criminal complaint.

A motorist told police he was stopped in the turn lane at an intersection when Kramer pulled up driving a black Mercedes Benz with tinted windows, then started to argue and accuse the man of driving too fast and recklessly in a 15 mph school zone, the complaint said.

Kramer told internal affairs investigators that the man initiated the shouting and aggressive behavior and that they both argued from their drivers' seats through open windows. The motorist told investigators that's when Kramer pulled the gun and the man was "looking down the barrel of the silver revolver with a short barrel, with bullets in the chamber," the complaint said.

Kramer drove away before the motorist alerted a school crossing guard nearby, who called 911. Police traced the Mercedes' license plate to Kramer who denied owning such a revolver when he was first interviewed by a city detective, the complaint said.

However, police found that Kramer bought a stainless, silver-colored Smith & Wesson revolver four years ago, and even used the gun when he had to qualify his shooting skills for the police bureau later that year. Police got a search warrant for the gun, which Kramer surrendered, still fully loaded, at his home July 31, the complaint said.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Kramer. The Associated Press couldn't find a phone number for the officer.

Kramer wasn't arrest in person. Police mailed the criminal complaint to him with a summons to appear for an Oct. 2 preliminary hearing in City Court.