By Adam Brandolph
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — A Homewood man who shot and wounded a Pittsburgh police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to several charges.
Dante Bonner, 20, faces up to 42 to 84 years in prison when he’s sentenced on Sept. 4 by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Beth A. Lazzara.
Bonner pleaded guilty to attempted homicide, recklessly endangering another person, carrying a firearm without a license, receiving stolen property, unlawfully possessing a firearm and assaulting a law enforcement officer. The last charge carries a 20- to 40-year mandatory sentence.
Police said Bonner was among a group of people causing a disturbance at the Sunoco gas station on Frankstown Road in Homewood while officers Christopher Kertis and Charles Thomas were working a traffic detail about 3:45 a.m. on March 17, 2013. Bonner and three other people got into a blue Dodge Avenger, which the officers later pulled over in a parking lot at the Port Authority East Busway near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and McPherson Boulevard. Bonner ran from the car, and Kertis ran after him.
During the chase, Kertis tripped over a parking barrier, breaking both of his wrists, and Bonner fired a gun and struck the officer twice in the left leg. Kertis and Thomas returned fire, hitting Bonner several times in the upper torso. Kertis, who joined the force in 2011, received the “Above and Beyond” award for heroism for his actions.
Kertis returned to duty last week after District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. declared that he used justifiable deadly force when he shot and killed Adrian Williams, 29, of Beechview on April 21 in Wilkinsburg. A police spokeswoman said Kertis is now assigned to the robbery squad.
He declined comment following Tuesday’s hearing.
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