Police: Man faces felony gun charge after hitting New Kensington woman with pistol during dispute

A Penn Hills man faces a felony firearm charge after a woman accused him of striking her with a handgun during an argument at her New Kensington apartment.

Rashaad Kahill Blair, 26, of the 1000 block of Olympic Heights Drive, was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and defiant trespass.

Blair is being detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $50,000 cash bond. He faces a preliminary hearing May 19 before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr.

New Kensington police responded to a call Friday, May 6, for a domestic dispute involving a handgun at the Pioneer Apartments on Fourth Avenue. They detained Blair outside the building as he was loading two garbage bags, a backpack and a duffel bag into an SUV, according to a criminal complaint.

Police said Blair was prohibited from entering the building by its manager on Feb. 25, the complaint said.

The woman who called 911 said she and Blair got into an argument and he started “pushing her around,” the complaint said.

She told them Blair ripped her shirt and then grabbed a handgun that was on the refrigerator, waved it around and then hit her with the weapon, according to his arrest papers.

The woman told police the handgun and the duffel bag Blair took belong to her brother.

The woman’s brother told police he left the gun and duffel at his sister’s apartment and gave them permission to search the bag, where they found a Glock 9 mm pistol loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition and a round in the chamber, the complaint said.

Two boxes of 9 mm ammunition containing a total of 36 rounds were found in the backpack Blair was carrying, police said.

Police charged Blair with illegal possession of a firearm because he pleaded guilty in 2014 to felony drug and theft charges and is not permitted to have a gun.