State Police in Indiana County have arrested a Cleveland, Ohio man on a felony homicide warrant from Ohio.
Troopers along with agents from the Attorney General’s office served a warrant on 24-year-old Brian Pruitt, Jr. of Cleveland Ohio in the courtroom of District Judge Susanne Steffee on Indiana Street in Homer City around 2:17 PM on Tuesday. He is one of two men accused of being involved in a shootout in Cleveland that left one person dead and two others injured. That shooting happened on August 7th. Reports say Pruitt’s younger brother was involved in a fight earlier in the day and that spurred the shooting that killed Dexter Williams.
Pruitt has a criminal history in Indiana County. He was one of six people arrested in August of 2017 in connection with a fentanyl and heroin distribution ring that was working out of a home on Fire Academy Road. Agents with the Attorney General’s Office reported they found 3.28 grams of raw heroin and fentanyl, nearly 13 grams of suspected crack cocaine, along with cash, an “owe sheet” and several items of drug paraphernalia. Pruitt had been charged with two felony counts each of manufacture of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and conspiracy to the same offense, along with three misdemeanor drug-related crimes.
On Tuesday, District Judge Susanne Steffee was holding a preliminary hearing on the drug charges, and those were held for court. State Police and the Attorney General’s agents served the warrant on him at that time. He was arraigned on extradition charges and was placed in Indiana County Jail to await extradition.
