by peter e. bortner
A Middleport man will go to trial on charges he hit three people with his pickup truck at a bush party last June in Blythe Township, a Schuylkill County judge ruled Friday.
In a 12-page opinion and order, Judge John E. Domalakes decided that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence at the preliminary hearing on July 28, 2011, to support all charges against George L. Klipola, 39.
"The testimony of the Commonwealth witnesses ... does establish that Klipola acted recklessly at the time he ran into the victims," Domalakes wrote.
As a result, Klipola still faces two counts each of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person and one each of simple assault and driving under suspension. The first time the case could go to trial would be in the February criminal court term, which will be Feb. 6-10 and 13-17.
Klipola is free pending further court action after posting 10 percent, or $600, of his $6,000 percentage bail.
State police at Frackville alleged that Klipola struck Cody Carpency, 17, of New Philadelphia, Gavin Heim, 17, of Valley View, and Joseph Rolanaitis, 18, of Middleport, with his white Ford pickup truck in the early morning hours of June 18 at the end of a bush party near Kaska in a section of Blythe Township known as Strawberry Fields.
Carpency testified at Klipola's preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko, Port Carbon, that he suffered three pelvic fractures and a ruptured bladder that required surgery at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
Heim testified he suffered three or four broken ribs, three or four torn tendons in one of his knees, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.
Rolanaitis testified he had a titanium plate put in his body as a result of the incident but otherwise was not seriously hurt.
In his opinion, Domalakes wrote that evidence, plus other testimony, supported the charges.
He wrote that at this stage of the case, he had to accept all evidence presented by prosecutors as true in deciding whether the evidence was legally sufficient.
"The evidence could establish that (Klipola) knew that there were many people in that area where he drove his vehicle and that he was angry at some of them at the time," Domalakes wrote.
While Klipola brought out inconsistencies in the prosecution's evidence, and a possible defense to the charges, those will not be relevant until the trial, Domalakes wrote.
"At this stage, the sole issue is ... evidence of a sufficient nature, and the record is replete with such evidence," he wrote. Defendant: George L. Klipola
Age: 39
Residence: Middleport
Charges: Two counts each of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person and one each of simple assault and driving under suspension