SHENANDOAH - A Pottsville man charged with stabbing another man in the head on June 30 in Shenandoah had charges against him held for court during a preliminary hearing Thursday morning.
Maurice Antwan Townsend, 26, of 613 Fairview St., was charged with one count of attempted homicide and two counts of aggravated assault, both felony offenses, along with misdemeanor crimes of two counts of simple assault and one count each of terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and possessing instruments of crime.
After hearing about an hour of testimony from the victim and two other witnesses, Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker determined the commonwealth proved a prima facie case and ordered all eight charges against Townsend held for Schuylkill County Court.
Shenandoah police Patrolman Joshua Pastucka charged Townsend with stabbing Eric Becker, Shenandoah, in the head with a six-inch knife about 7:10 p.m. in the area of 125 S. West St.
Becker told the court that, prior to the stabbing incident, he was approached by Townsend who threatened him claiming he allegedly was calling the police about Townsend living in an abandoned home in the area.
"He said I was going to be his next victim," Becker said, adding that the man then threatened to burn down his house with his family inside.
When asked how he felt, Becker said "threatened, very threatened."
Later that day, about 7:10 p.m., Becker said he and his cousin, Raymond Iaconelli, were walking on South West Street when they saw Townsend coming toward them.
Becker said it did not matter that he was not alone.
"He (Townsend) wanted me. He didn't care who was with me," he said.
Becker said an altercation began when another man, who he called Chris, wearing a Burger King uniform approached and began yelling at him and Iaconelli, claiming they were picking on Townsend, who is also referred to as T-Rex.
When Becker turned to the other man to explain that Townsend was the one causing trouble, he said Townsend attacked him and punched him in the head. After feeling blood begin to run from his head, Becker said he realized it had been stabbed.
The man said he went to his mother's house nearby and was taken to a Pottsville hospital, where he received five sutures for the wound he received.
Iaconelli confirmed his uncle's story, saying the attack by Townsend was unprovoked by either of the two.
He said the man named Chris, who no one in the courtroom could identify, started to punch him and while Iaconelli was defending himself, Townsend attacked Becker.
Iaconelli described Townsend as having an angry look in his eyes and "not coming slow" toward them.
April Halford, Becker's sister and Iaconelli's mother, said she was not near her relatives when the altercation began but got there shortly after and kicked a knife away that was lying on the ground while Townsend tried to grab it.
"I was just screaming for all of them to stop," she said. "I grabbed the knife and held it till the cops came."
During the proceedings, Kilker warned Townsend to stop making gestures and comments toward witnesses on the stand.
At one point, Pastucka took Townsend into another room and told him he would face additional charges of intimidation of witnesses unless his actions stopped.
Kilker also warned Townsend and ordered his chair be turned facing away from the witnesses and facing his attorney, public defender Kent Watkins.
At the end of testimony, Watkins argued the one aggravated assault charge, along with attempted homicide charge, should be dropped since Becker did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
Assistant District Attorney Debra Smith argued that Townsend stabbed Becker in the head and could have struck his brain, severed an artery or even caused him to lose an eye.
Even though Becker did not suffer any major injuries, Smith said the outcome could have been far more serious.
Kilker agreed and ruled in favor of the commonwealth.
In his criminal complaint, Pastucka said Townsend was taken into custody shortly after the incident and admitted stabbing Becker in the head.
When asked about telling Becker he would be his next victim, the officer said Townsend referred to him stabbing a woman in July 2012, also in Shenandoah.
In 2012, Shenandoah police Patrolman Christopher Zubris charged Townsend with stabbing Cindy Arias Gilbert, a newspaper carrier, with a knife in the area of 219 W. Cherry St.
Gilbert suffered a large laceration to her right arm that required treatment at a local hospital.
Pastucka said Thursday that Townsend served a prison sentence for this crime and was recently released from jail at the time he stabbed Becker.