Prosecutor calls New Florence man convicted of assaulting police a 'menace to society'

Although he was acquitted of murder charges in the 2015 fatal shooting of a St. Clair police officer, Ray A. Shetler Jr. remains a “menace to society” who should kept in prison, a Westmoreland County prosecutor told a judge Tuesday.

Shetler, 39, was in court Tuesday to be sentenced for his role in a violent Dec. 7, 2021, confrontation at a mobile home in Seward when deputy sheriffs and state troopers tried to take him into custody on a warrant for a probation violation.

But the judge sentenced the New Florence man to serve 1 to 2 years in prison followed by two years on probation. Shetler was given credit for the 399 days he has served in jail and is eligible for parole. It will be up to the state’s parole board to determine when he is released from prison.

Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro asked Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to give Shetler the maximum prison sentence — 19 years — after he was found guilty of aggravated assault, disarming a police officer and resisting arrest.

Deputy Sheriff Irvin Shipley suffered a concussion and a torn rotator cuff as Shetler fought officers during the melee two years ago after he failed to appear in court for a probation revocation hearing. Shetler also was injured when he was shot in the eye with a Taser.

Ciaramitaro said Shetler is unsupervisable, adding that he “lacks the ability to comply with norms … and every time he interacts with law enforcement, someone gets hurt. Mr. Shetler is a menace to society.”

Ciaramitaro described Shetler as a violent man with an ego.

“He is intent on showing to the world who he is,” Ciaramitaro said. “The defendant does not take accountability for his own actions, and he will do what he wants when he wants.”

Shetler claimed he acted in self-defense and was attacked by police as retribution for his involvement in the 2015 fatal shooting of St. Clair police Officer Lloyd Reed in New Florence.

“During this whole thing I was tremendously affected, both physically and emotionally. I feel terrible for what happened to Officer Shipley,” Shetler said. “I told the truth of what happened to me that night in the trailer, and what those officers did to me was wrong. I am not a menace to society. I am a good person.”

Shipley declined to comment on the sentence Shetler received.

Shetler faces a potential new sentence in connection with a theft conviction following his 2018 trial in which he was found not guilty of killing Reed, who responded to a domestic violence call at a home Shetler shared with a girlfriend. Jurors acquitted Shetler of first-degree murder but found him guilty of a theft count for stealing a vehicle as he attempted to flee from pursing officers following the fatal shooting.

He was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in jail and five years’ probation for the theft conviction.

Court officials claim Shetler violated terms of his probation when he tested positive for illegal drugs.