Officer charged in bar assault

A Philadelphia police officer was arrested last week in connection with a February altercation at a Holmesburg bar during which he allegedly punched his estranged wife.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey intends to fire Officer James Graber Jr. following a 30-day suspension in accordance with the department's collective bargaining agreement with the officers' labor union.

Graber, 36, is charged with simple assault and reckless endangerment. He is an 11-year veteran of the police department and was assigned to the bomb disposal unit.

On Feb. 19, Graber allegedly was off duty and inside a bar on the 7600 block of Frankford Ave. when he engaged in a verbal disturbance with his wife. Bar security staff escorted Graber from the premises, but the officer later returned and punched his wife in the face, according to a printed statement from the police department.

The department's internal affairs bureau and the district attorney's office investigated the case, leading to the March 22 arrest.