Former Pine Constable Charged with Making False Report to Police

A former Pine constable charged with making a false report to police is scheduled for a July 10 formal arraignment.

Eric Ewing, 54, of Gibsonia, waived his preliminary hearing when he appeared last week before Magisterial District Court Judge William K. Wagner.

The misdemeanor charge was issued after Ewing told police someone shot a surveillance flare near his Gibsonia home on April 17, police said. A witness later told police that Ewing shot the flare, according to the criminal complaint.

Ewing said he believed the flare was an attempt—either from someone with the U.S. government or some faction of organized crime—to send a message that they were watching him, the complaint states. 

This week, Ewing faced additional unrelated charges in Wagner's court—defiant trespassing and driving on a suspended license. Those charges were forwarded Wednesday to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

The misdemeanor trespassing charge stemmed from a May 21 incident in which Ewing entered onto property that an Allegheny County court ordered him to stay off, the criminal complaint states.

He also faces a summary count of driving while his license is suspended, police said.

Ewing's license was suspended when he was placed in the ARD program—Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition—which is available to first-time DUI offenders. 

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Robert C. Gallo granted a motion March 23 to admit Ewing into the ARD program. 

after a one-vehicle accident near a school bus stop in Pine that occurred Oct. 21, according to a  report.

The blood alcohol level for Ewing was .275 percent, according to the police report. The laws covering driving under the influence state three blood alcohol levels; the highest level is 0.16 percent and above.

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