Patient charged with assaulting Reading Hospital staff members

West Reading police charged a Wyomissing man with aggravated assault, saying he attacked two Reading Hospital employees about 12:05 a.m. Dec. 28 and threatened a third.

The patient was being interviewed by a hospital worker when he asked her how old she was. She didn't answer. He got out of his bed, grabbed a chair and struck her with it, according to court records. The worker yelled for help and tried to defend herself. The patient got three hits in before a security guard grabbed the chair, records say.

During that struggle the patient grabbed the guard's arm and tried to bite the back of his neck, records say. Eventually employees restrained the suspect, who told a third person in the room he knows the man's face, records say. He then threatened the staffer, reportedly telling him, "… You're gonna wake up in your own puddle of blood."

West Reading police arrested the man and turned him over to sheriff's deputies. The suspect, a 44-year-old Wyomissing resident, was charged with three counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment, and one count of making terroristic threats. He was jailed in lieu of $60,000 bail.

Wernersville man charged in West Reading assault

West Reading police received a call about an assault taking place about 1:22 a.m. July 15 in an unspecified block of South Sixth Avenue. They arrested a suspect, a Wernersville man (no age given) who was charged with three counts of aggravated assault, two counts each of simple assault and harassment and one count of reckless endangerment. He was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Man charged in West Reading assault

A late-night fight resulted in injuries to two people and the arrest of one man on May 28 in West Reading. About 2:47 a.m. police received a call about a domestic disturbance in the 300 block of Spruce Street in the borough. Two people suffered injuries in the fight. Police arrested a 36-year-old West Reading man and charged him with harassment, disorderly conduct, aggravated assault and simple assault. He was jailed in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Man faces possible trial on charges of assaulting paramedic

A possible jury trial awaits a 41-year-old West Reading man accused of attacking a paramedic in February while the former was a resident of an assisted living facility in the borough.

During a hearing March 7 before District Judge Timothy Dougherty, charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment were held for court. The suspect remains jailed in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Assault suspects face possible trial in West Reading beating

A Shillington man waived his preliminary hearing March 10 on charges stemming from a Feb. 12 assault in a parking lot in West Reading. A second suspect in the case also had a hearing March 10, where all charges against him were held for court.

West Reading and Wyomissing police responded to a fight about 5 in the morning on Feb. 12 in the parking lot of a restaurant in the 400 block of Penn Avenue. While they had been told it was "nothing, just an argument," officers found a man lying unconscious in the back of the parking lot, with injuries to his face and hands. He was taken to Reading Hospital.

One of the suspects, a 23-year-old Shillington resident, told police he was with the victim, the other suspect and two women at a club in Reading, where they had been drinking. On the way to the restaurant an argument ensued. The women went inside the restaurant while the men continued to argue. The Shillington man said he tried to stop a fight between the victim in and the second suspect, a 23-year-old Reading resident. But after further questioning he admitted that he was the one who threw the first punch, and both he and the Reading man kept punching and kicking the victim after he fell to the ground.

The two suspects each were charged with simple assault, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, receiving stolen property and robbery. They're both accused of also taking $250 in cash from the victim. They were jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail each.

Patient attacks paramedic in West Reading

A man at an assisted-living facility was charged Feb. 13 with assault. West Reading police said the man, a patient at Morris Pace Assisted Living in the 400 block of Reading Avenue in the borough, assaulted a paramedic in the morning of Feb. 13. The 41-year-old suspect was charged with two counts each of aggravated assault and harassment and one count of simple assault. He was jailed in lieu of $15,000 bail.

West Reading assault suspect faces possible trial

A West Reading woman waived her preliminary hearing Jan. 31 on charges of attacking her boyfriend Jan. 8 in a home in the 300 block of Spruce Street in West Reading. The 37-year-old now faces a possible jury trial. Police said she stabbed her boyfriend in the arm during an argument. All charges – including two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of simple assault and one count each of reckless endangerment, harassment with physical contact, harassment and possessing a weapon – were waived for court. She remains jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Woman charged in domestic assault in West Reading

A West Reading man went to the West Reading police station about 4 a.m. Jan. 8 with a wound in his arm. He had been arguing with his girlfriend in their home in the 300 block of Spruce Street when she grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the arm. He was sent to Reading Hospital for treatment. She was charged with three counts of simple assault, two counts each of aggravated assault and harassment, and one count each of reckless endangerment and possessing a weapon. She was jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Son faces charges for threatening dad with knife

A man told police his son chased him around the house about 6:48 p.m. Oct. 28 in the 200 block of Spruce Street, wielding a knife. When officers arrived, the 21-year-old suspect had left the house and officers couldn't find him. Police reports didn't indicate whether or not the father was hospitalized. However, the son faces aggravated assault and simple assault charges, as well as charges of harassment, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment, weapon possession and making terroristic threats.

Woman faces possible jury trial on assault charges

A West Reading woman who police said attacked a man March 25 in a borough apartment faces a possible trial. District Judge Timothy M. Dougherty sent her case to Berks County court during a preliminary hearing April 8. The victim suffered a cut to his hand, West Reading police said after they found the pair in an apartment in the 500 block of Parkview Road. The suspect, now 32, faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment and reckless endangerment.

Mount Penn man faces charges after fight at West Reading Diner

West Reading police spotted a fight going on about 2:21 a.m. April 3 at the West Reading Diner, in the 400 block of Penn Avenue in the borough. One man was arrested as a result of the fight, but police didn’t indicate how many people were involved. The suspect, a 27-year-old Mount Penn resident, was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, harassment and public drunkenness. He was jailed in lieu of $60,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing later this month.

Drugs found in home of shooting suspect

The West Reading resident accused of shooting another man in the evening of Nov. 4 from his porch had large quantities of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his home, West Reading police Chief Edward Fabriziani said.

Fabriziani said the victim, a Reading man, was arguing with the suspect on the front porch of the latter’s apartment in the 100 block of South Fifth Avenue in West Reading. As the victim left, the suspect fired a handgun at him.

“He shot him as he was running away,” Fabriziani said.

The victim was taken to Reading Hospital and treated for a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. He was released either that night or the next day, Fabriziani said.

The shooting was initially described as a gun battle or a home invasion. Neighbors, who reported hearing as many as nine shots, thought it was a shootout. The notion that it was a home invasion came from the suspect, who called police that night to report it as such.

“We now know that’s not the case,” Fabriziani said.

The 48-year-old suspect was arrested Nov. 4 and charged with three counts of simple assault, two counts of aggravated assault and one count each of reckless endangerment, drug possession, possession with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia and possessing an instrument of a crime. He was jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Drunken-driving arrest leads to dozens of charges for Wyomissing man

A man crashed his car into a utility pole about 10:13 p.m. Sept. 25 in the 1600 block of State Hill Road in Wyomissing. Police determined the man was drunk and arrested him. While at the DUI Center, the suspect apparently became belligerent. He was charge with two counts of resisting arrest, six counts of reckless endangerment, five counts of aggravated assault, six counts of simple assault and one count each of drunken driving, driving on the sidewalk, scattering rubbish, careless driving and risking catastrophe. The suspect, a 24-year-old Wyomissing resident, was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Man arrested following fight outside restaurant in West Reading

With his son nearby, a man assaulted a woman in a domestic dispute about 4:30 a.m. Sept. 4, West Reading police said. The fight took place in the parking lot of the West Reading Diner, in the 400 block of Penn Avenue. The woman didn't receive medical treatment, police said. The alleged attacker, a 19-year-old West Reading man, was charged with two counts each of simple assault, aggravated assault and harassment, as well as endangering the welfare of children and disorderly conduct. He was jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail.