SHENANDOAH - A preliminary hearing for a Shenandoah man charged with assaulting a woman with a knife on July 22 had his preliminary hearing continued Tuesday.
Maurice A. Townsend, 23, who lives in Shenandoah but has no fixed address, was scheduled to appear before Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker on charges of two felony counts of aggravated assault; one misdemeanor count each of recklessly endangering another person, simple assault and disorderly conduct; and a summary charge of harassment.
Townsend remains in Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $50,000 straight cash bail at the time of his arraignment.
Shenandoah police Patrolman Christopher Zubris charged Townsend with an incident that occurred at 219 W. Cherry St. in the borough.
Zubris said he and Patrolman Robert Senape were called for a woman with either a stab wound or a gunshot wound.
At the scene, Zubris said, the officers found Cindy Arias Gilbert, Shenandoah, with a large laceration to her upper right arm.
The woman, who is an independent newspaper carrier for the Republican-Herald, was treated at the scene by Shenandoah ALS. She was then taken to Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street, where she was treated for the stab wound and later released.
Witnesses at the scene described the attacker as being a black man, between 5 feet 8 inches tall and 5 feet 10 inches tall wearing blue jeans and a black tank top.
Witnesses also identified the attacker as Townsend, also known as "T-Rex," and said he fled the area on foot east on Cherry Street, Zubris said.
Zubris said it was learned that Townsend and Gilbert became involved in a verbal argument in the street and that during the argument, Townsend pulled out a sharp, silver object and proceeded to "slice" Gilbert's arm.
A woman who was in the area said that Townsend confronted her and said "Touch me and I'll slice you," Zubris said.
Zubris said Mahanoy City police Lt. John Kaczmarczyk later received information that Townsend was seen on East Washington Street and turning onto North Bower Street.
Zubris said several police units went to the scene in the 100 block of North Bower Street and took Townsend into custody without incident.
During a search of the man, Zubris said a small silver folding knife was located in the man's right rear pocket and taken as evidence.
Kilker rescheduled the hearing for 11 a.m. Aug. 9 in his Shenandoah courtroom.
