Man accused of killing Brackenridge police chief has lengthy criminal history

REPORTER: IN NOVEMBER 2021, POLICE SAY AARON SWAN STOLE A GLOCK PISTOL FROM THE CENTER CONSOLE OF A CAR PARKED HERE ON SOUTH 19TH STREET ON THE SOUTHSIDE. WHEN THE GUN OWNER SHOWED UP AT HIS CAR, THE TWO MEN FOUGHT. SWAN THREATENED TO KILL HIM, THEN RAN TOWARD THE RIVERFRONT PARK. POLICE NEVER CAUGHT HIM. RECORDS SHOW SWAN HAS A LENGTHY CRIMINAL HISTORY GOING BACK A DECADE. AARON SWAN WAS ORIGINALLY CHARGED WITH HOMICIDE IN 2014, WHEN A LARIMER MAN WAS FOUND DEAD IN THE PARKING LOT OF MOUNT ARARAT BAPTIST CHURCH. BUT PROSECUTORS WITHDREW THAT CHARGE WHEN SWAN AGREED TO COOPERATE. HE PLEADED GUILTY TO LESSER CHARGES. HIS CRIMINAL HISTORY STARTS IN 2013 WHEN SWAN PLEADED GUILTY TO THEFT AND DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND RECEIVED PROBATION. IN 2017, HE PLEADED GUILTY TO HAVING AN ILLEGAL FIREARM, TAUNTING A POLICE ANIMAL ESCAPE, RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT, CRIMINAL TRESPASS, AND RESISTING ARREST. ALSO IN 2017, HE PLEADED GUILTY TO ROBBERY, SERIOUS BODILY INJURY AND CONSPIRACY FOLLOWING THE LARIMER HOMICIDE. HE WAS SENTENCED TO THREE TO SIX YEARS IN PRISON, BUT WAS RELEASED AFTER JUST OVER ONE YEAR. IN 2019, HE PLED GUILTY TO DRUG DISTRIBUTION AND WAS SENT BACK TO PRISON UNTIL BEING PAROLED IN JUNE 2021. IN NOVEMBER 2021, HE WAS CHARGED WITH THEFT, SIMPLE ASSAULT, AND TERRORISTIC THREATS FOR THE SOUTHSIDE INCIDENT. JUST WEEKS LATER ON CHRISTMAS DAY 2021, POLICE TRACKED SWAN TO THIS APARTMENT COMPLEX IN PENN HILLS USING AIR PODS SWAN ALLEGEDLY STOLE. HE WAS ASLEEP OR PASSED OUT IN A CAR WITH A GREEN GLOCK PISTOL, AND WHEN OFFICERS TOLD HIM TO GET OUT, HE TRIED TO DRIVE AWAY, THEN HE JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR AND RAN INTO THE WOODS. THAT WAS SWANS LAST CONTACT WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT UNTIL YESTERDAY’S SHOOTING

Records show the man accused of killing Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire and shooting a Tarentum officer has a lengthy criminal history.Police said they shot and killed Aaron Swan Jr., 28, after he got into a shootout with police Monday night in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood.Swan's criminal history starts in 2013 when he pleaded guilty to theft and disorderly conduct and received probation.In 2014, Swan was charged with homicide when a Larimer man was found dead in the parking lot of Mount Ararat Baptist Church. Prosecutors withdrew that charge when Swan agreed to cooperate and testify against another man who was convicted of the killing.Records show Swan pleaded guilty to robbery/serious bodily injury and conspiracy. He was sentenced to three to six years in prison but was released after just over one year.Also in 2017, court records show he received probation after pleading guilty to having an illegal firearm, taunting a police animal, escape, reckless endangerment, criminal trespass and resisting arrest.In 2019, records show he pleaded guilty to drug distribution and was sent back to prison until being paroled in June 2021.In November 2021, he was charged with theft, simple assault and terroristic threats. A police report says Swan stole a Glock pistol from a car parked on the South Side. When the gun owner showed up, the two men fought. Police say Swan threatened to kill the gun owner and then ran to a nearby park. The police never caught him.Weeks later, on Christmas Day, police tracked Swan to a Penn Hills apartment complex using Apple AirPods that Swan allegedly stole, according to a criminal complaint. Officers found him asleep in his car with a green Glock pistol and ordered him to get out. Swan tried to drive away, but his car got stuck. The police report says he jumped out of the car and ran into the nearby woods.That was his last contact with law enforcement until Monday's shootings.According to the Department of Corrections, Swan's parole was revoked in April after he failed to report to his parole officer.

PITTSBURGH —

Records show the man accused of killing Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire and shooting a Tarentum officer has a lengthy criminal history.

Police said they shot and killed Aaron Swan Jr., 28, after he got into a shootout with police Monday night in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood.

Swan's criminal history starts in 2013 when he pleaded guilty to theft and disorderly conduct and received probation.

In 2014, Swan was charged with homicide when a Larimer man was found dead in the parking lot of Mount Ararat Baptist Church. Prosecutors withdrew that charge when Swan agreed to cooperate and testify against another man who was convicted of the killing.

Records show Swan pleaded guilty to robbery/serious bodily injury and conspiracy. He was sentenced to three to six years in prison but was released after just over one year.

Also in 2017, court records show he received probation after pleading guilty to having an illegal firearm, taunting a police animal, escape, reckless endangerment, criminal trespass and resisting arrest.

In 2019, records show he pleaded guilty to drug distribution and was sent back to prison until being paroled in June 2021.

In November 2021, he was charged with theft, simple assault and terroristic threats. A police report says Swan stole a Glock pistol from a car parked on the South Side. When the gun owner showed up, the two men fought. Police say Swan threatened to kill the gun owner and then ran to a nearby park. The police never caught him.

Weeks later, on Christmas Day, police tracked Swan to a Penn Hills apartment complex using Apple AirPods that Swan allegedly stole, according to a criminal complaint. Officers found him asleep in his car with a green Glock pistol and ordered him to get out. Swan tried to drive away, but his car got stuck. The police report says he jumped out of the car and ran into the nearby woods.

That was his last contact with law enforcement until Monday's shootings.

According to the Department of Corrections, Swan's parole was revoked in April after he failed to report to his parole officer.

Man accused of killing Brackenridge police chief has lengthy criminal history

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