West Deer man awaiting trial over shooting at neighbors accused of brawling with police; felony charges filed

A West Deer man who is awaiting trial on felony charges that he shot at his neighbors while they were having their property surveyed in April 2021 has been accused of attacking officers who tried to arrest him for allegedly harassing people in his neighborhood.

Raymond Arthur Nelson, 64, of the 2700 block of Russellton Airport Road was charged with three felony counts of aggravated assault along with four counts of harassment and a count of disorderly conduct in connection with the Aug. 25 incident.

He was released from Allegheny County Jail after a Pittsburgh bail agency posted a $5,000 cash bond on his behalf. He faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Tom Swan on Wednesday, Sept. 7.

West Deer police charged Nelson in April 2021 with two felony counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts each of reckless endangerment and simple assault.

Two of the aggravated assault charges were withdrawn. But Nelson was ordered to stand trial on the remaining charges during an April 28 preliminary hearing before Swan, according to court records.

Then, officers responding to an Aug. 25 call at a home on Russellton Airport Road wrote in a criminal complaint that, while they were talking to the couple who called 911, they could hear Nelson, who did not see them arrive, screaming obscenities and other derogatory comments at them from the other side of a privacy fence.

The couple gave police video from their exchange with Nelson, and police said they recorded what he was yelling at them on their body cameras, the complaint said.

Police said Nelson denied yelling at neighbors and “shooed” officers away when they asked him to explain the accusations being made against him.

Officers spoke to another couple in the neighborhood who told them about screaming fits Nelson has directed at them and other neighbors, the complaint said.

Police said they were called back to the neighborhood the same day for a report about Nelson screaming.

But, when officers approached to speak with him, he ordered them to “stay 30 feet back” and then made an obscene gesture toward them, police said.

Nelson is accused of fighting with three officers when they tried to arrest him for harassment and disorderly conduct, the complaint said.

Police said Nelson kneed one of the officers in the groin and spit at the other two while he was being placed in a patrol car.

Nelson again spit at officers while they were trying to place a spit shield on his face, police said, and tried to kick an officer in the face while he was being placed in a holding cell, according to his arrest papers.

Nelson did not have a lawyer listed in court documents.