Charges withdrawn against former Leet police chief who had been accused of assaulting his father

Former Leet police Chief Michael Molinaro will not stand trial for allegedly assaulting his father.

Beaver County District Attorney’s Office withdrew charges of simple assault and harassment Tuesday, a county court clerk confirmed.

Online court documents indicated a preliminary hearing was scheduled that morning before District Judge Steven N. Necaster.

Clerks for the county courthouse and the magistrate could not confirm why the charges were withdrawn.

Calls to Molinaro’s listed attorney, Gerald V. Benyo Jr., were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Charges stem from an alleged incident Dec. 14 at a home along Duss Avenue in Ambridge.

However, the family reported the altercation Dec. 23 and charges were filed the following day.

Molinaro’s father told Ambridge police he asked his son for money to pay bills.

Molinaro responded by throwing multiple tools striking the father multiple times, according to the criminal complaint.

The father also asked about inspection stickers, to which Molinaro responded with two headbutts to his father’s temple, punching holes in the wall of a garage and threatening to damage his father’s business, the complaint read.

Officers observed bruising on the father’s forehead. He sought treatment for injuries at Beaver Valley Medical Center.

Online court documents indicate Molinaro spent one day at the Beaver County jail and posted $25,000 bond.

Molinaro, a Leet officer since 2013 and chief since March 2021, was fired July 25, 2022, at a township commissioners’ workshop meeting.

The termination was ratified at an Aug. 6, 2022, township commissioners’ regular voting session and upheld by Leet’s Civil Service Commission on Nov. 1, 2023.