Criminal Justice

Suspended lawyer charged with theft from client apparently shoots, wounds himself during arrest

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A suspended Pennsylvania lawyer was hospitalized Saturday after he apparently shot himself during a brief standoff with police who sought to arrest him for stealing from an elderly client. (Image from Shutterstock)

A suspended Pennsylvania lawyer was hospitalized Saturday after he apparently shot himself during a brief standoff with police who sought to arrest him for stealing from an elderly client.

Police surrounded the office of Robert C. Klingensmith, 61, of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, and apparently used a stun gun to stop him when he emerged from his office bloodied and without a shirt, report TribLive.com and WTAE. A woman who lived near Klingensmith’s Murrysville, Pennsylvania, office recorded the arrest.

Police allege that Klingensmith stole $312,000 from the client and her estate. The thefts allegedly began when Klingensmith was appointed as the agent for the client, Anne Marie Wiley, and continued after her April 2022 death at age 90, the stories report.

Klingensmith was temporarily suspended in a May 13 order by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for a judgeship in 2023, according to TribLive.com.