BY JULIE BENAMATI
NORTHERN CAMBRIA — A Northern Cambria Borough employee responsible for the borough crew faces charges after he and a resident got into a fistfight Monday afternoon on Kennedy Avenue.
Dave Suchar, 48, of the 200 block of Hickory Street, and Walter Drzal, 46, of the 1200 block of Bigler Avenue, are facing criminal simple assault charges filed Tuesday by Northern Cambria Borough police.
Suchar has been the borough’s street commissioner for several years.
According to Officer Amanda Fox’s report, Suchar told police he was driving to pick up his daughter at day care when Drzal yelled an obscenity at him.
After Suchar got out of his vehicle and told Drzal not to use foul language in front of the children at the day care, Drzal allegedly “pushed him with his body and the fistfight started.”
But Drzal told police that Suchar started the verbal confrontation as he drove by, then got out of his vehicle and struck Drzal with his chest as the men argued about who was going to throw the first punch.
Suchar struck Drzal in the nose, the report said, and Drzal retaliated when he “threw about a dozen punches ... and he got (Suchar) to the ground and held him until police arrived.”
When Fox and Sgt. Jeff McEvoy arrived on the scene, they observed Suchar kneeling down on the ground on all fours, with Drzal on top of him.
Police said Suchar had blood on his shirt and nose and in his mouth, and Drzal’s glasses were broken. Both men declined medical attention.
Sgt. Dave Hassen, the borough’s officer-in-charge, said the case has been turned over to the county District Attorney’s Office.
“The district attorney has been called in to avoid a potential conflict of interest, because (Suchar) is a borough employee, and his father, Mike Suchar, is the Borough Council president,” the sergeant said.
Hassen said Suchar was not on duty when the incident occurred.
A preliminary hearing date has not yet been scheduled.
