PITTSBURGH, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania judge Tuesday rescinded bond for a man who allegedly attacked police officers and killed a police dog, calling the suspect a flight risk.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning revoked an eye-popping $1 million bond for the suspect, Jeffrey Rush, 21, of Stowe, ordered by Brookline District Judge Jim Motznik a day earlier. In so doing, Manning issued a rebuke of the lower court's order, calling it "nothing but magisterial grandstanding" to offer bond at all to a suspect accused of attacking police and trying to evade capture, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
"When encountered by sheriff's deputies, [Rush] fled, then he fought, then he fled and fought again," Manning said during a video conference revisiting the bail determination. "Bail is denied."
Rush will be held without bail while awaiting trial.
Manning also banned Motznik from presiding over any other hearings related to the case.
Rush is accused of attacking three police officers Jan. 27, stabbing one with a pocket knife and then killing the department's 8-year-old German shepherd dog, Rocco.
Explaining his thinking Monday, Motznik said he set the bond as high as he did in part because he considers the canine a "police officer," the Post-Gazette said.
Rush had been wanted on several warrants, including his suspected participation in a violent home invasion robbery and failure to register as a sex offender when deputies tried taking him into custody when they spotted him walking down a street in Lawrenceville, Pa., outside Pittsburgh.
A funeral for Rocco will be held Friday and is open to the public.
