PA State Senate Candidate Takes ‘Full Responsibility’ For 2011 Arrest

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — Matt McCullough, the Republican candidate for state senate in the 10th district, said he takes full responsibility for his actions regarding a public intoxication arrest a decade ago in Nashville, Tenn.

The arrest happened in 2011 following an altercation at the Brass Stables Bar, according to a copy of a police report sent to Patch.

McCullough, who then lived in Cherry Hill, New Jersey was taken into custody "for his own safety as well as the safety of others" after he declined to get into a cab, the report said.

The arresting officer reported that McCullough was "highly intoxicated and very unsteady on his feet" and "wanted to argue continuously instead of getting in a cab."

McCullough said he was at the bar while on vacation when "an altercation occurred that I was not involved in and I got scooped up in it," he said. “That doesn't excuse anything. Obviously I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said. “I should have known better than to put myself in that situation.”

According to the report, McCullough was the subject of a disorderly person call "where he reportedly grabbed an employee's breast and was simply asked to leave," said the report.

McCullough, however, "categorically denies putting his hands on anyone. Whatever is in the police report is what someone told the officer, but it did not happen."

McCullough said he sat in a room overnight and was let go the next day. He was not fined and he was never summoned to court.

“There was nothing there," he said. "That was 12 years ago. That’s not indicative of who I am,” he said. “I’m sure the voters are more concerned with my involvement in the community, my experience as a small business owner and job creator. That’s the experience I’m going to take to Harrisburg with me.”

McCullough, a resident of Newtown Township, is seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent State Senator Steve Santarsiero from Lower Makefield in the 10th senatorial district.