A Bradford man waived a preliminary hearing Thursday in McKean County Central Court for charges in two cases that include allegations of methamphetamine dealing and violence.
Walter J. Gutshall Jr., 37, of 22 Pleasant St., is incarcerated in McKean County Jail after being denied bail at his arraignment before District Judge Dominic Cercone.
Court records listed this reason for the denial of bail, “No set of conditions can protect the public.” On Thursday, Cercone changed the bail to $50,000. It had not been posted as of Thursday night.
Gutshall is charged in one case with simple assault, terroristic threats and endangering the welfare of children, first-degree misdemeanors; and false imprisonment, a second-degree misdemeanor. In the second case, he’s charged with possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance, a felony; terroristic threats, a first-degree misdemeanor; false imprisonment, a second-degree misdemeanor; possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, misdemeanors; and summary harassment.
The criminal complaint states that on Aug. 19, Gutshall told his girlfriend he “was very angry because he stated that someone ripped him off the night before and he was going to kill some man named Brian.”
He became “enraged” with her when she tried to throw Gutshall out of the residence because she found needles, syringes and drugs there, the complaint stated. Gutshall allegedly began “kicking holes in the walls, punching large dents in the refrigerator and was throwing knives around the apartment and was stabbing walls with knives.” A 10-year-old boy was in the room at the time.
Gutshall and the woman were arguing, and she called him a “drug dealer.” He allegedly grabbed her by her arm and the back of her neck and dragged her to a bedroom, where he punched her in the head and neck. While Gutshall was holding her up against the wall, he told her he was going to break her jaw and kill her, and he kept hitting her. She tried to leave the room, but he pushed her out of the way and held the door closed, according to the complaint.
The boy ran outside, opened the window and began yelling for the woman to come out. She made it partially out the window, but Gutshall grabbed her legs and dragged her back in, court records stated. The woman was able to escape after kicking him in the groin.
Also in August, Gutshall and the woman were arguing after she confronted him about allegedly dealing meth out of her home.
Gutshall backed her up against a wall, pinning her, screaming at her and telling her he was going to break her jaw. She tried to leave but Gutshall kept her pinned and held the door shut, the complaint stated
He ran when he learned police were on their way to the home. While running across the street, a plastic container fell from his back pants pocket into a neighbor’s yard. The container held 63 Ziploc-style bags with meth in them, according to the criminal complaint.
