Crime & Safety
Car Thief Arrested at AA Meeting Pleads Guilty
Brian Mulrooney had been charged with stealing a car and then head-butting one of the officers who arrested him.
A Phillipsburg man who head-butted an Easton police officer after getting arrested for car theft during an Easton AA meeting has pleaded guilty.
Court records show that Brian Mulrooney, 23, entered guilty pleas to aggravated assault, receiving stolen property and aggravated harassment by a prisoner. Two other charges—a more serious assault charge and resisting arrest—were withdrawn.
According to court records, police spotted a stolen Chevrolet Lumina with New Jersey license plates on the unit block of N. 12th Street near the Olivet Presbyterian Church.
Police went inside and found Mulrooney, who gave officers a set of keys for a Chevrolet that he said he owned. But the keys fit the locks and ignition for the stolen Lumina, police say.
While police tried to get Mulrooney “live scanned” – capturing fingerprints by electronic means – he pushed officers with his body and attempted to escape, forcing them to physically restrain him.
It was during the restraining process that Mulrooney head-butted one of the officers.
Mulrooney is due to be sentenced Nov. 15 in Northampton County Court.
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