Allegheny County sheriff: McKees Rocks man held infant daughter while trying to hold deputies at bay

Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputies on Thursday had to break into a residence in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place neighborhood and then into a bedroom to arrest a fugitive who had been on the run since last summer, authorities said.

The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department said Joshua Currington, 32, of McKees Rocks, held his infant daughter in his arms and refused to be arrested Thursday before deputies forced the issue.

Currington was wanted on 10 warrants for violating parole, escape and burglary among other charges.

A release from the sheriff’s department said deputies got a tip he was at a residence in 5000 block of Delehanty Street.

When deputies arrived at about 12:30 p.m., they spotted Currington peering out a window but said he retreated.

After breaking through the front door, deputies said they found Currington in a rear bedroom. He was holding the child — shaking her — and telling deputies he wouldn’t be arrested.

“He began acting erratic, stating that he wanted deputies to shoot him, while still holding the infant,” the statement said.

Authorities said Currington repeatedly reached for his waistband, but he didn’t show a handgun.

When he ran inside a bedroom and slammed the door, deputies broke through it because they feared for the girl.

Currington was tazed and handcuffed. Medics checked the baby and then gave her to her mother.

Deputies said they later found a loaded .45-caliber, semi-automatic pistol on a shelf near the front door.

Currington was taken to Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh. Criminal court and family court charges are pending.

Authorities said Currington escaped from an alternative housing facility in May, is accused of a burglary in Greenfield in September and faces drugs charges out of McKees Rocks in connection with an October incident.

Chuck Biedka is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chuck at 724-226-4711, cbiedka@tribweb.com or via Twitter @ChuckBiedka.