Advertisement No jail time for ex-Redstone Township police officer in civil rights case Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A former Pennsylvania police officer has been sentenced to house arrest and probation for violating the civil rights of a man he threw to the ground and slugged. Norman Howard III, 43, was ordered by a federal judge in Pittsburgh on Monday to spend three years on probation, with the first six months on house arrest.Howard was an officer in Redstone Township in May 2013 when prosecutors said he followed a car home when a man inside the vehicle gestured at him, and then assaulted him. Howard acknowledged in October to that he violated the man's rights in the assault.Howard had agreed to never work as a police officer again in exchange for prosecutors dropping the civil rights charge from a felony to a misdemeanor, and prosecutors, in turn, didn't object to probation."He doesn't want to be a police officer anymore. It's not a good time to be a police officer," defense attorney Charles Porter Jr. said after the sentencing. "And the government doesn't want him to be a police officer, so I think their interests dovetailed." "I'd just like to say I'd like to get this behind me and move on with my life," Howard told U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti. Federal prosecutors said another township officer was following a car about 1:30 a.m. when Howard took over as the other officer drove away. In the car were David Novotney, 25, of Brier Hill, who had been drinking but wasn't driving, and his 17-year-old twin brothers. They were driving home from a night of playing video games and cards with friends. Howard followed the car until it pulled into the driveway. Howard was past the Novotney house and driving away when the eldest brother gestured at Howard, prompting the officer to turn around, activate his emergency lights and stop, prosecutors said. When Novotney got out of the car, Howard threw him to the ground and punched him. Before October's plea hearing, Howard had faced a felony civil rights charge, carrying up to 10 years in prison. The misdemeanor charge carried only a maximum of one year in prison and was agreed to by prosecutors because Novotney didn't suffer "bodily injury." The misdemeanor civil rights charge covers the same allegations - that Howard was acting in his official capacity and willfully deprived Novotney of his right to be free from the use of unreasonable force. Novotney was charged with aggravated assault and several other serious crimes in state court, but they were dismissed, and he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct citation. He wasn't fined, but was ordered to pay about $160 in court costs, records show. A home telephone for Novotney was disconnected Monday, and court records don't name a criminal defense attorney. Howard was indicted in April, but had already resigned in September 2014 after he was charged with knocking out a woman's tooth during an unrelated domestic dispute. A judge dismissed those charges after Howard and the woman completed court-ordered counseling, records show. Judge Conti ordered Howard to undergo anger management training and possible alcohol treatment as part of his sentence.