An Allegheny County judge on Tuesday denied bail for a McDonald man accused of firing repeatedly at police officers last year during a suspected mental health crisis.
Stephen Budai, 45, of McDonald is charged with four counts each of firing on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment stemming from the incident Sept. 1 at his home.
Budai, who has no previous criminal history, had sought bail four times before Tuesday’s hearing. At each turn, he has been denied.
On Tuesday, Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Satler denied him a fifth time.
According to a criminal complaint, McDonald Borough police were dispatched to Budai’s house on Fairmont Street around 7:35 p.m. that evening to do a welfare check.
McDonald is west of Pittsburgh and straddles Allegheny and Washington counties.
As an officer approached the home, he could hear the sounds of a man screaming from inside. No one answered when the officer knocked, the complaint said.
The officer, who suspected the resident might be in the midst of a mental health crisis, called a Washington County crisis care social worker and also contacted Budai’s sister-in-law. She shared a Facebook post by Budai in which he said he wanted to harm himself.
Eventually, the complaint said, two social workers arrived, along with Budai’s brother.
The brother knocked on the front door, police wrote, and Budai, who was naked, answered and allowed him inside.
After a short time, the brother left the house and told police Budai didn’t recognize him. He said something “seemed to be seriously wrong with his brother’s mental state,” the complaint said.
‘Shoot me, shoot me’
Moments later, it continued, Budai, now wearing shorts, opened the front door, spotted the officer, raised both of his hands in the air and stated, “‘shoot me, shoot me,’ and ‘kill me, kill me.’”
The officer drew his gun, and the group began to retreat. Budai went into the home and came back out holding a handgun, the complaint said.
Budai fired two to three shots at the group.
The victims told police the shots were close and “they could hear the ‘whiz’ sound from projectiles that were being fired in their direction.”
Budai returned inside his home and came back out with a rifle, the complaint said, firing additional shots.
At 9:46 p.m., police on scene requested the Allegheny County Police SWAT team.
As they waited for SWAT, Budai fired more shots with the rifle both inside and outside the house, striking a marked police car, the complaint said.
About 90 minutes later, Budai surrendered. He admitted in an interview with police that he had fired both the handgun and rifle, the complaint said.
He has been held in the Allegheny County Jail since then.
Flight risk dismissed
During prior bail modification hearings, the commonwealth argued Budai ought to remain in custody given the nature of the charges against him, because he had access to guns and because he had nowhere to go since his home was in foreclosure.
Since then, defense attorney Ben Jackson wrote in his most recent request for bail, his client’s circumstances have changed.
Through the help of friends and additional funds, Budai was able to pay the arrears on his mortgage, and the loan is in good standing, Jackson wrote. In addition, all of the utilities have been paid and are turned on.
“Mr. Budai is not a flight risk,” Jackson wrote.
He has lived in the community his entire life and worked as a service technician for Verizon for two decades, Jackson wrote.
In the motion, the defense argued that denying bail in this case is appropriate only if the prosecution can prove it is “substantially more likely than not” that Budai will harm someone if he is released and that there is no combination of conditions the court could impose that would prevent that.
Jackson asked that Budai be released to his home with no access to guns, no contact with the alleged victims and mental health treatment. He also suggested his client be put on electronic home monitoring.
“He’s willing to do whatever it takes,” Jackson told the judge.
But Assistant District Attorney Katie Simmers argued that the question of bail had already been decided repeatedly. Further, the alleged victims are fearful of Budai, and he faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence if convicted.
No combination of conditions would ensure the community’s safety, Simmers said.
Satler agreed, and Budai will remain in custody.
His case is scheduled for a jury trial on May 11.