Milton Richner fought with officers after they tried to respond to him as he walked dangerously close to Route 378, authorities say.
An Easton man who fought with Bethlehem police officers and tried to grab their weapons in December is a diagnosed schizophrenic, authorities say.
Milton Richner, 48, was walking north along Route 378 in Bethlehem on Dec. 29, and came so close to the highway that cars had to swerve to avoid him.
When Bethlehem police officers attempted to help him, Richner became angry and started fighting with them, grabbing at the weapons on their belts, authorities said.
Richner, of the 200 block of Canal Road, pleaded guilty to disarming a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest, according to court documents. As a result, a more serious felony charge of aggravated assault of an officer was dropped, as were charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct, according to records.
Lehigh County Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Dimmig said a plea deal was offered to Richner because of his mental illness, and because he did not have an extensive criminal history.
The police officers Richner fought with suffered minor injuries and were treated and released from St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill.
Richner is scheduled to be sentenced July 22 by Judge Robert Steinberg at the Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown.
The plea bargain specifies he will serve no higher than the standard range of sentencing guidelines, which will be determined by a pre-sentence evaluation, according to Mark Merdinger, his public defender.
Merdinger declined to comment further on the case.
Contact Allentown reporter Colin McEvoy at 484-894-2549 or cmcevoy@express-times.com.
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