A suspended Pittsburgh police officer wants his job back following his acquittal Thursday on charges stemming from a South Side shooting during an off-duty arrest.

Paul Abel, 35, an eight-year veteran, grabbed his attorney and shook his hand after Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning announced not-guilty verdicts for aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and drunken driving.

Abel declined comment after the verdict, but when asked if he planned to get his job back, he said, “Yes.”

Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard said Abel will remain off the job for now. Police union attorney Bryan Campbell said the union filed a grievance and the matter likely will head to arbitration.

Joanna Doven, spokeswoman for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, declined comment.

Manning chastised Abel for the June 28 incident but said his actions did not rise to the level of a crime. Abel has said he drank four beers and two shots that night while celebrating his wife’s 26th birthday at two South Side bars.

“The court does not condone your conduct here,” Manning said. “It finds that it was inappropriate, imprudent and ill-advised under the circumstances.”

Abel was accused of pistol-whipping Kaleb Miller and shooting him in the hand near the intersection of Sidney and South 20th streets. Abel said Miller, 21, was the man who approached his car, punched him in the face minutes earlier and then ran off.

Abel, who drove around the block and spotted Miller on the street, said he was attempting to arrest Miller when his gun accidentally discharged as he tried to get Miller on the ground.

Two tow truck drivers said they witnessed Abel getting punched in the face as he sat at a red light in his car. But the truck drivers backed up Miller’s story that he wasn’t the man who did it.

Regardless of whether Miller was the right man, Abel’s attorney, William Difenderfer, said off-duty police officers are entitled to make arrests.

“It actually brings up a great issue of ‘are police officers — and rightfully so — expected to perform their duty, off duty?’” Difenderfer said.

Beth Pittinger, director of the city’s Citizen Police Review Board, watched the trial and said officers should not be making arrests if they’re drunk.

“Alcohol and firearms are a very volatile combination, and you saw that happen here,” said Pittinger.

Pittsburgh police Assistant Chief William Bochter said bureau policy does not specifically address alcohol consumption by off-duty officers, but says that they must act within ethical standards.

“Being off duty does not mitigate misconduct,” Bochter said. “Officers are directly accountable for their actions at all times — whether on duty or off duty — through their chain of command to the chief of police.”

Campbell said the rules are broad, and officers have discretion to act as they see fit.

“Say Abel saw somebody shoot somebody else. Is he supposed to let the shooter get away? I’d say no,” Campbell said. “What if an officer’s off duty and he sees a person getting beaten but didn’t do anything because he had a few beers?”

Speaking outside the courtroom, Chuck Hanlon, vice president of Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1, said its members are police officers 24 hours a day.

“The testimony was that Mr. Abel was assaulted,” Hanlon said. “It’s his responsibility as a citizen and a police officer to act. If Paul had stopped a bank robbery that night, he’d be a hero.”