A Brookville man is facing simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct charges after police say he threw a woman's phone during an argument, striking a young boy in the mouth and chipping his teeth. The incident happened Saturday, November 7, at a Sulgar Road residence in Warsaw Township, and the man accused of throwing the phone had already fled the scene by the time officers arrived.
Argument Turns Violent, Boy Left Bleeding
According to Connect FM, 41-year-old Mark Aharrah got into an argument with a woman inside the home and threw her phone across the room, where it hit a young boy in the mouth and chipped some of his teeth. The outlet reports police responded to the Sulgar Road address on November 7 after receiving a report of an assault. Aharrah is identified more fully as 41-year-old Mark Alan Aharrah of Brookville, according to a separate report.
That second report, from Gant News, states troopers responded at approximately 10:41 a.m. on November 7 to a report of an active assault at the Warsaw Township residence. Per that account, the boy struck by the phone was 12 years old and suffered two chipped front teeth and a bloody nose, and he was taken to a Brookville hospital for evaluation.
Suspect Fled, Was Later Detained Down the Road
Aharrah left the scene before police arrived, Connect FM's report states. The Gant News account adds more detail on what happened next, saying Aharrah allegedly left before troopers arrived and was found and detained in the driveway of a home on Allens Mills Road, where a responding trooper transported him back to the scene.
Aharrah was then taken to the Jefferson County Jail, where he faces simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct charges, the Connect FM report notes. Per the same account from Gant News, Aharrah was arraigned the same day and bail was set at $20,000 unsecured. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 16 at 10:45 a.m. before Judge Gregory M. Bazylak, according to that report.
What the Charges Could Mean
Pennsylvania's simple assault statute, Title 18, Section 2701, covers attempting to cause bodily injury, or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury. The statute also specifies that simple assault is graded as a first-degree misdemeanor when committed against a child under 12 by a person 18 or older; the boy was reported to be 12, so the under-12 provision does not apply on the reported facts.
The disorderly conduct charge falls under Title 18, Section 5503, which covers fighting, threatening, or violent or tumultuous behavior intended to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or that recklessly creates a risk of it. Under that statute, the offense is graded as a third-degree misdemeanor if the actor intends substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or persists after a warning to stop; otherwise it is treated as a summary offense. Neither statute determines whether the specific allegations against Aharrah meet those legal elements — that determination will come through the court process, beginning with the scheduled preliminary hearing.
