Coalport man charged with assault over stabbing | News, sports, jobs

A Coalport man is facing an aggravated assault charge after allegedly entering a city residence and stabbing a man in the leg.

Christopher Terrell Thomas, 46, was arraigned Saturday by Magisterial District Judge Paula M. Aigner on charges of aggravated assault, as well as one felony count of gun possession, two misdemeanor counts of simple assault and two summary counts of harassment.

Unable to post $150,000 bail, he was remanded to the Blair County Jail.

Altoona police responded to a reported stabbing at a home on the 1500 block of Third Street on October 25 at approximately 5:45 p.m.

Officers spoke with a witness who said she was talking to the victim in the dining room of her home when there was a knock on the door. When she answered, she saw it was a man she knew only as “Dutch,” later identified as Thomas, who lived in a halfway house in Coalport, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The witness said she “exchanged words” with Thomas about returning property they owned that belonged to the other. As she walked away from the door, Thomas followed her into the house and she confronted him. The witness said Thomas hit her twice in the right side of her face with a closed fist, the report said.

Thomas then walked up to the victim, pushed him into a chair, punched him in the face, grabbed his leg and stabbed him in the leg. The witness said this was the first time she saw Thomas with a knife. She then fled the house to get help from a neighbor. The victim also escaped and walked south until another neighbor came out to help him, court documents show.

The witness told officers she had only known Thomas for a few days and that he had only been to her home twice before this incident. When asked if Thomas knew the victim, she said no, the report states.

Officers evacuated the house and did not find Thomas or the knife. They found several pools of blood in the dining room, kitchen and bloodstains on the floor along the route the victim took after leaving the home and walking south, according to court documents.

Officers contacted staff at the halfway house in Coalport and provided them with a description of Thomas. They said they knew a man named Christopher Thomas, who went by “Dutch,” but that he was not currently at the facility. An employee later contacted officers to inform them that Thomas had returned to the facility in an Uber, court documents show.

When officers went to UPMC Altoona to speak with the victim, they were told he was being treated in the operating room. The witness was able to positively identify himself

Thomas as “Dutchman” through a photo lineup, according to court documents.

Thomas’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6 before Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio.