Clairton man receives 40- to 80-year sentence for fleeing police, wounding officer

The fear Monroeville Patrolman Craig Huhn felt when he was shot twice in 2023 was not just for his own life, but those of his wife and their two sons if he didn’t survive.

“I relive the moment I was shot every single day,” he said Thursday during the sentencing hearing for the man convicted of wounding him at the end of a lengthy police chase in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. “I carry a weight that was never there before.”

Huhn, his wife and his parents asked for Bruce Alvarado, 40, of Clairton, to be held accountable for the impact the shooting has had on their family.

Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio had sharp words for Alvarado as she sentenced him to 40 to 80 years in a state prison.

His violent criminal history warranted a lengthy sentence, she said, and the officers involved in the 20-mile chase on Nov. 10, 2023, should be commended for how they handled the situation.

“I can’t help but point out … you came out of the incident completely unscathed,” she said.

Alvarado was convicted by a jury in June of attempted homicide, assault of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, weapons violations, fleeing from police and related offenses.

Police officers testified throughout the trial and prosecutors played body camera footage showing the chaos of the chase that ended in Allegheny Township when Huhn was shot.

The pursuit started when police tried to stop the SUV that Alvarado was driving in Turtle Creek as he took a passenger to buy drugs, according to trial testimony.

It ended on Route 356 when the SUVs Huhn and Alvarado were driving crashed side-by-side, trapping Huhn inside as the gunfire started.

Huhn testified he was shot in the wrist and leg.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Barr pointed to Alvarado’s 30-year criminal history, including past violent crimes against police officers, in seeking a lengthy sentence.

“He’s a danger, he’s a menace to society and he’s come within inches … of ending a person’s life,” Barr argued.

Defense attorney Ken Noga asked the judge to consider his client’s declining health and balance accountability for the victims with mercy.

“I fear today, judge, that no matter what this sentence is, the court is going to give him a life sentence,” Noga said.

Huhn was released from the hospital the day after the shooting. Shrapnel remains lodged in his wrist and finger. He is back on the job.

Alvarado spoke briefly during the hearing.

“It wasn’t meant to happen the way it happened,” he said. “I apologize.”