A New Kensington man was convicted Thursday of leaving a convenience store customer unconscious and for an assault of a city police officer as authorities sought to take him into custody months later.
A Westmoreland County jury convicted Luther Boyd, 44, of one felony count of aggravated assault of a police officer, resisting arrest, strangulation and simple assault related to the two incidents.
The cases against Boyd were initiated after an incident police said took place Aug. 24, 2024 outside a convenience store in New Kensington. Police said Boyd choked a man unconscious.
Eight months later, police found Boyd in a New Kensington apartment and said they were assaulted as they attempted to take him into custody, prosecutors said.
Boyd faces a potential state prison term when he is sentenced later this year, said Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar.
Not guilty of some charges
The jury, which deliberated more than an hour, returned not guilty verdicts to five counts of aggravated assault in connection with what prosecutors described as a violent confrontation with police and one charge of aggravated assault filed against him in the strangulation case.
The initial assault case against Boyd hinged on a reluctant witness and video of the incident recorded on a store security camera.
Jurors saw video of Boyd, dressed in a yellow fluorescent shirt, approach Walter Cashell, 48, from behind, put his hands to his neck and strangle him until he fell unconscious to the ground.
Boyd can be seen in the video walking away as customers enter and exit the store as Cashell lay unresponsive with his foot wedged in the door.
Cashell was taken into custody Wednesday after he refused to accept a subpoena to appear in court to testify. Shackled and handcuffed as he entered the courtroom outside of the jury’s view, he told jurors he did not want to testify but then recounted what he remembered of the incident.
“I just woke up on the ground,” Cashell testified. “I don’t remember him saying anything. … I was trying to ignore him and tried to shoo him away, then tried to shove him into the door to get him off of me. I was not physically hurt in any way.”
Cashell said Boyd appeared near his home several months later to apologize.
At the urging of Boyd’s now former girlfriend, Cashell testified he signed a letter sent to prosecutors in which he accepted responsibility for the choking incident, claimed he was off his mental health medication, called Boyd a slur, initiated the confrontation and called for the criminal case to be dismissed.
“I really don’t think he should go to jail for this. I was OK and nobody got hurt,” Cashell testified.
Lazar told jurors those efforts to end the case were threats, and Cashell’s reluctance to testify was caused by his fear of retribution.
The confrontation with Cashell led to the incident in April 2025 with New Kensington police, prosecutors contend.
Boyd, who had been on the lam since he was charged with assault in connection to the incident with Cashell, was spotted in a New Kensington apartment. When officers arrived to make the arrest the apartment’s tenant verbally said Boyd was not there while nodding in the affirmative, testified New Kensington patrolman Tyler Balla.
Balla said police entered the apartment, saw a reflection of Boyd in a bathroom mirror and when they attempted to take him into custody he tried to force the door closed. Police were able to force open the bathroom door and as they tried to make the arrest, Boyd punched, kicked the officers, the officers testified.
“It was almost a melee,” Balla told jurors. “It was an all-out brawl at that point.”
Balla said he was was kicked in thigh. Officer Seth Hosack said he was struck in the groin as elbows were thrown.
Boyd was punched one time in the face, the officers testified.
The jury convicted Boyd of assaulting Bella.
Neither Hosack, Bella nor a third officer who did not testify sustained any injuries during the incident. Boyd was examined by an emergency medical technician at the scene but was not treated for an injury, the officers said.
Boyd did not testify and no defense witnesses took the witness stand during the short, one-day trial.
Defense attorney Mike Garofalo argued to jurors that Boyd should be acquitted because none of the officers were hurt and that Cashell claimed he was responsible for his role in the initial incident and did not want to see the case prosecuted.