3 days ago
Westmoreland County attorney wounded by self-inflicted gunshot during arrest, police say
A Westmoreland County attorney accused of stealing from a woman's estate was arrested after a brief standoff with police on Saturday.
The attorney, Robert Klingensmith, was subsequently hospitalized with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The standoff was at Klingensmith's law office around 5:30 p.m. Police were serving a search warrant.
Video sent to KDKA-TV shows police tasing Klingensmith, who began walking toward the police but refused to comply with an officer's orders, prompting the use of the taser.
Klingensmith then falls to the ground, where he is handcuffed.
Klingensmith had been charged with theft and exploiting an older or care-dependent person. The district attorney's office said Klingensmith was the representative for a woman who died, and it's alleged that Klingensmith failed to pay money from this woman's estate to her heirs.
Instead, officials say he transferred more than $300,000 from the woman's account to his personal account.
KDKA-TV also spoke with the woman who recorded the video.
"I mean, he was kind of barreling towards them. I mean, that could have ended a different way, you know, not a taser. So, I think they did what they had to do to get them down on the ground and handcuffed," Kate Dusch said. "It was scary. It was definitely scary while it was happening, almost crazy to think that that happened right there."
Medical staff attempted to perform "life-preserving surgery" on Klingensmith Saturday night. His condition remains unknown, but he is in custody.
