PITTSBURGH —
A former chief of staff for Pittsburgh Public Schools appeared in court Thursday for a review hearing to assess his progress in anger management classes.
Lamar Blackwell resigned from his position in July. His attorney said the purpose of the hearing was to ensure Blackwell was on track with the classes.
According to court documents, police were called to a South Side home in April after Blackwell’s girlfriend accused him of grabbing and choking her during an argument. Police documented that her cheek was red. Blackwell allegedly told officers that his girlfriend had threatened to call the police to ruin his career and that nothing had happened.
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Blackwell was charged with strangulation and simple assault. His attorney, Steve Townsend, said part of the negotiated deal was for Blackwell to attend anger management classes instead of taking the case to court.
“He took the high road in this particular case, decided to take the classes. He’s taken the classes, and the case will be dismissed,” Townsend said.
“That was the negotiated deal that we’d made months ago when we first came to court. Rather than go through the long process of fighting this downtown, Mr. Blackwell decided he’ll do the classes, try to keep it as low-key as possible. He didn’t want to put the school district through that,” Townsend said.
Townsend also said Blackwell did not resign from Pittsburgh Public Schools solely because of this case, and that he expects the charges to be dismissed in January.
Pittsburgh Public Schools did not comment because Blackwell is no longer an employee in the district.
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