Pittsburgh Attorney Attacked Priest: Police

PITTSBURGH, PA — A suspended Pittsburgh attorney is charged with assaulting a priest at a monastery over the weekend.

Timothy Tomasic, 46, of Scott was arrested after police were called to St. Paul of the Cross Monastery on the city's South Side Saturday for reports of someone making threats inside the church.

When they arrived, they found a shirtless man later identified as Tomasic walking out with a priest and then throwing him to the ground, according to court documents. Tomasic then stood over the priest, prompting an officer to pull out his Taser and demand Tomasic get on the ground.

Tomasic was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault and simple assault. He currently is housed in the Allegheny County Jail.

The priest refused medical treatment.

Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspended Tomasic from practicing law at the request of the court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

The suspension came seven months after Tomasic was publicly reprimanded and placed on two years of probation by the disciplinary board. The 38-page decision detailed erratic behavior on Tomasic's part and a county assistant district attorney's suspicions that Tomasic was under the influence of cocaine and perhaps other drugs in several conversations with her.

In one of the those discussions, Tomasic allegedly told the assistant district attorney that one of his clients had failed to appear for a trial because Tomasic had agreed to drive him to the courthouse but passed out in his car.

In the probation edict, Tomasic was instructed to:

• Abstain from using alcohol, drugs or any other mind-altering chemical except under the strict supervision of a prescribing physician.

• Regularly attend weekly Narcotics Anonymous meetings and maintain weekly contact with his Narcotics Anonymous sponsor.

• Undergo any counseling, outpatient or inpatient treatment prescribed by a physician or substance abuse counselor.