MERCER, PA. Spadafora incident involves intoxication

The junior welterweight boxer was placed under arrested after reckless actions in a vehicle.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
MERCER, Pa. -- A Pittsburgh boxer was charged with reckless endangering and disorderly conduct after an incident early Sunday on a northern Mercer County road.
Paul R. Spadafora, 29, was a passenger in a car traveling east on state Route 358 in Perry Township when, while apparently intoxicated, he exited the vehicle several times, Pennsylvania State Police at Mercer said. Police said Spadafora also tried to grab the driver and, at one point, forced the gear shift into park while the vehicle was moving.
Police said they found Spadafora standing alongside the road in a highly intoxicated state. He was placed under arrest and is set to be arraigned.
Prior problem
Last fall, Spadafora was charged with attempted homicide in the shooting of his girlfriend, who was critically wounded in the chest, according to newspaper reports. Allegheny County detectives charged him with criminal attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and violation of uniform firearms act, after an Oct. 26 incident in McKees Rocks, Pa. That charge is still pending.
In a separate incident, he was sentenced to a $400 fine and 100 hours of community service in February after being convicted of public drunkenness and open lewdness for urinating on a downtown Pittsburgh street last Oct. 24.
Spadafora was world lightweight boxing champion for three years and 10 months. He gave up the title last year planning to become a junior welterweight, a 140-pound class.
In July while promoting a junior welterweight bought, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "I just wanted everybody to know the stuff that happened this year, all that dumb stuff ... that ain't me."
"I wouldn't mind if it was me. But it's not me. Like being out there all messed up drinking. I learned an important lesson."
Sought help
Since October, Spadafora told the newspaper that he has undergone substance-abuse rehabilitation, counseling and various other changes.
To get his license from the Pennsylvania Athletics Commission, Spadafora and his manager had to agree to special conditions including that he will inform the commission in writing within 10 business days of the disposition of his attempted homicide case. If he is convicted, pleads guilty or enters a plea of nolo contendere, it will trigger a review in which the commission may revoke or suspend the license. And, he will be required to undergo drug tests before and after each Pennsylvania fight, a contingency normally reserved for a world champion.