Attempted murder charges stand against two of three of the people accused of assaulting and stabbing a man in Emporium on Sept. 6.
Court records indicate that a preliminary hearing was held Thursday for Samuel S. Sherwood, 33, and Jeremiah J. Putt, 22, before District Judge Barry Brown.
All charges against the two — attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, first-degree felonies; and aggravated assault causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony — were bound to the Court of Common Pleas.
Meanwhile, court records show that charges against the third defendant, Shayne A. Sage, 23, were withdrawn. Sage had faced the same charges as the other two.
According to the criminal complaints, at 5:30 a.m. Sept. 6, the defendants contacted a 54-year-old man via phone messages. The men traveled to the victim’s residence on East Greenwood Avenue, Emporium, and “attempted to lure him outside by knocking on his door.”
At some point, the victim approached the men a short distance from his residence. The men assaulted the victim, striking him numerous times in the body and face with a wooden dowel rod, a metal pipe and a hatchet, the complaints read.
The victim also suffered two stab wounds to the abdomen, according to the complaint.
The assault ended when a neighbor yelled at the men, court records indicated.
“The defendants ran away from the scene leaving behind the bloody dowel rod and metal pipe,” the complaints stated. “A blood trail was observed from where the assault took place to the victim’s residence.”
The complaint for Putt indicated the men had left the scene in Putt’s vehicle.
All three were initially jailed on $250,000 bail on Sept. 6. However, court records indicate that bail for Putt and Sherwood was decreased to $100,000 each at the request of the attorneys, but it appears that both men remain incarcerated in Potter County Jail.
Formal arraignment for both is scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 17 in Cameron County Court.
Sage, who was also jailed on $250,000 bail on Sept. 6, was released on unsecured bail on Sept. 16.
Sherwood is represented through the public defender’s office by Clearfield attorney Chris Pentz, and Putt has opted for private counsel by Erie attorney James P. Miller.
