Assault and firearm charges among those brought before Lycoming County district judges

Two men arrested after separate family disputes

Despite being told by state police and family members that he was forbidden from coming to the family’s home at 1414 E. Third St., Jesse Ethan Williams arrived at the apartment around 9:30 a.m. Friday and argued for much of the day with his mother about their past, an affidavit said. He refused to leave the building, police were told. Scores of soldiers rushed to the scene around 3:30 p.m. after Williams, a 22-year-old homeless man, threatened to kill family members with a knife, the court document said. While his mother was able to safely escape the apartment, an aunt was still inside when police arrived on the scene, the affidavit said. Williams was taken into custody without incident and arraigned before District Judge Aaron Biichle on three counts: terroristic threats, simple assault and intimidation plus one misdemeanor count of trespassing. He was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

In another case, a domestic disturbance at his Muncy Township home Saturday afternoon landed Timothy Michael Eck, 39, of 867 Lycoming Mall Road, in county jail on charges that he twice tried to strangle his wife, state police alleged. When troopers arrived on the scene around 1:30 p.m., Eck told them “I got into an argument with my wife. I put her on the ground.” it was stated in an affidavit. When his daughter started hitting him, Eck “brought her to the ground” as well, he told police. “It all started because my daughter wanted me to make French toast,” Eck told them. Police allege Eck first tried to strangle his wife in the kitchen and then again outside as she and the couple’s children tried to flee in a van, the affidavit said. When Eck grabbed the woman by the throat outside, “He applied pressure for 30 seconds,” the court document alleged. Once in custody, Eck was charged before Biichle with one felony count of strangulation and two counts of simple assault and his intimidation. He was initially jailed but has since been released on $50,000 bail.

State police are charging a Columbia County man with assault

Eric Steven Barto, 38, of Benton, has been charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct and harassment after punching another man in the face during a disturbance at Hull’s Landing, 27 Route 442, Muncy, on July 19, state police alleged . The victim suffered ‘a bruised left eye, a bruised nose and a broken tooth’ the court document said. Barto waived his preliminary hearing before District Judge Kirsten Gardner and is free on $5,000 bail.

Three charged in separate drug cases

Jaqua Strickland, 23, of 837 High St., has been charged by the county’s Narcotics Enforcement Unit with delivery of a controlled substance and illegal use of a cell phone after selling an undisclosed amount of ecstasy to an informant on Third Avenue and Park Avenue in the United States. city on June 10, it was alleged in an affidavit. Following his arraignment before Biichle, he was released on $50,000 bail.

In another NEU case, parolee Jaziah Strickland, 25, of 951 Park Ave., Apartment 3, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance (buprenorphine) after being taken into custody by state probation agents in another undisclosed criminal case in the 300, according to court documents, on April 18 a block of Memorial Avenue in the city. At the time of his arrest and subsequent incarceration in the county jail, Strickland had a cell phone with him that investigators seized and placed into evidence. A search warrant was obtained to conduct a phone call, an affidavit said. Inside the phone case were three buprenorphine patches for which Strickland had not been prescribed, investigators said. Strickland was arraigned before Biichle and released on $5,000 bail in the case, but he remains behind bars on state parole charges.

In another case, Jessie Lee Cecil, 36, of Fire Lake, Michigan, was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy as a result of a drug investigation that began when he conspired with another man in the selling medicines. seven grams of methamphetamine to an informant on Maplewood Lane in Mifflin Township on June 22, 2023, a state police affidavit alleged. While executing a search warrant on August 3, 2023, an estimated 1.3 grams of methamphetamine was discovered in Cecil’s belongings at the same residence, police said. Cecil was recently arraigned before District Judge Denise Dieter and has since waived his preliminary hearing. He is now free on $85,000 bail after initially serving time in jail.

Firearms charges filed against city criminal

Convicted felon John Kyle Smith, 29, of 816 Park Ave., is back behind bars after detectives with the county’s Narcotics Enforcement Unit found a handgun with an obliterated serial number under his pillow in his bedroom while serving a search warrant on Oct. 1. performed in his house. 9, according to a statement. Smith, who has multiple convictions in Florida, was arraigned before Gardner on charges of being a convicted felon for failure to possess a firearm and possession of a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number and remains jailed in lieu of bond of $50,000.

A new set of charges have been filed against two men

Jamair Lewis, 18, of 109 Broad St., Montgomery, formerly of the 600 block of Campbell Street, and Damier Sams-Glover 21, of 331 Center St., Apartment 2, both of whom were arrested May 9 for trespassing in a According to the Muncy Township Police Department, they now face additional charges of shoplifting, receiving stolen property and conspiracy. The new charges stem from Lewis and Sams-Glover stealing $322 worth of merchandise from Target, 170 S. Lycoming Mall Drive, hours before their arrest downtown, police said. Shortly after the two were arrested, the police recovered a large portion of the stolen goods. Both cases also involved a 17-year-old boy, but police are not releasing his name because he was charged as a minor. At their recent preliminary hearing before Gardner, both Lewis and Sams-Glover were held in court on city police charges and are out on bond.

County jail inmate faces new charges

Lycoming County Jail inmate Kenneth Hockenberry, already jailed on charges of trespassing on two neighbors’ property, is facing a new string of violations stemming from a burglary of another neighbor’s home, according to state police. Hockenberry, 65, of 2381 Route 405, Lot 83, Muncy, was jailed Oct. 7 on the first indictment and was arraigned last week before Biichle on charges of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property, criminal trespass and misdemeanor . , challenging foul and loitering. Police allege he broke into the victim’s home and stole an estimated $1,700 worth of food, clothing and laundry supplies. Following his arraignment on the new charges, Hockenberry was re-sentenced in lieu of an additional $25,000 bail.

McKean County father arrested on charges of allegedly assaulting daughter

Isaac Hilyer, 27, of Eldred, McKean County, has been charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child, simple assault and intimidation for causing facial injury to his 5-year-old daughter at a relative’s home on Route 220 in Muncy Township on July 6, township police alleged in an affidavit. Hilyer grabbed the girl “near her face and squeezed it tightly and forcefully pushed her head onto a bed, causing her pain and bruising,” the court document alleged. The girl was treated at the hospital for her injuries, police said. When investigators questioned him about his daughter’s injuries, Hilyer recalled that he was with his children at the relative’s home that day and that he had put his daughter to bed but did not do so. “Remember every point where she was so bad that he would do something like that,” the statement said. Investigators said Hilyer admitted to this “Drinking beer ‘pretty decent’,” and he was “quite drunk” that day, police said. Hilyer said yes “I often got drunk around his kids and he knew it was a problem,” police said in the court document. Following his arraignment before Gardner, Hilyer was released on $50,000 bail.