Pittsburgh cop acquitted in road-rage case could go back to work after city misses deadline

A missed filing deadline by the City of Pittsburgh law department means that it lost an appeal on whether a police officer arrested but acquitted in a road-rage incident can go back to work.

In a 10-page Commonwealth Court opinion issued Tuesday, Judge Patricia McCullough did not address the issue being appealed. Instead, she wrote that the city’s required statement of errors was filed two days too late.

The city was challenging an arbitration award and a decision affirming it in Common Pleas Court that found that Officer Robert Kramer should be reinstated.

Kramer was arrested following an incident on May 3, 2017, in which he was accused of brandishing a handgun at a fellow motorist in Sheraden.

Kramer was terminated by the city, but on Sept. 3, 2018, a jury found him not guilty on all counts.

Kramer then went through binding arbitration, and a three-judge panel reinstated him to the department.

The city appealed that decision to Common Pleas Court, alleging that the arbitration panel exceeded its authority and violated due process.

The court agreed with the arbitration panel.

According to the Commonwealth Court opinion, the city filed a notice of appeal, and Judge Donald R. Walko issued an order dated Sept. 11, 2019, giving the city 21 days to file its statement of errors complained of on appeal, noting that it must be “’timely filed and served,” and if it was not, the issue would be waived.

It was due Oct. 2, Judge McCullough wrote.

But the city didn’t file its statement until Oct. 4.

“[T]he City did not request an extension of time to file a … [s]tatement and did not argue before the trial court (or this Court for that matter) that it had good cause or extraordinary circumstances for filing its … [s]tatement late,” the court wrote.

Precedent, Judge McCullough wrote, shows that the city waived its claims.

Timothy McNulty, a spokesman for the city, said Kramer has not returned to work.

“He has been off the job since 2017, does not currently have the Act 120 certification to be reinstated, and it is not expected this court decision will change his employment status at this time.”

Christopher Cimballa, who represented the Fraternal Order of Police, Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1 on Kramer’s behalf, said he was pleased with the court’s ruling.

“It’s time the city puts him back to work,” he said.