Hazel Gets State Prison for Assaulting Women on Rails to Trails
CLEARFIELD – A Philipsburg man who assaulted a woman on Rails to Trails in June will be spending time in state prison
Frederick Allen Hazel, 41, pleaded guilty Tuesday during colloquy court before Judge Paul E. Cherry to aggravated assault and resisting arrest for which he was sentenced to 24 months to four years in state prison, according to a court employee.
He was also ordered to pay the victim over $730 in restitution.
According to the affidavit, the victim said she was riding from Clearfield to Curwensville when she saw a “scruffy-looking guy sitting on the bench on the right-hand side of the trail” near Curwensville.
She traveled past him to an intersection before turning to go back to Clearfield, hoping he would be gone. He wasn’t on the bench any more, but she spotted him on the left of the trail.
He moved over as if he was going to let her ride by, but instead he reportedly swung a stick at her, striking her in the head and knocking her from the bike.
“I was afraid he was going to hurt me or even kill me,” she told investigators.
As she screamed “no, no, no!” he hit her three or four times, then threw the bike at her before walking off toward Clearfield.
Officers responding to the scene were able to find a broken stick believed to be the weapon used by the attacker.
After talking with other people walking on the path, police discovered a man fitting the description given of the perpetrator had gone toward the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, which borders the trail.
One officer spotted the suspect who was shirtless, going into the water.
The man, later identified as Hazel, refused the officers’ commands to stop and appeared to have a sharp object in his hand.
The officer continued to yell verbal commands, which Hazel ignored while continuing on to the other river bank.
After he got out of the water, Hazel ran into the woods with the officer following. When he got close enough, the officer was able to put Hazel on the ground and place him in handcuffs.
Hazel reportedly stated he thought he “was getting jumped” on the trail because he had been jumped at another time.
When he was searched, Hazel, who had outstanding warrants, had a metal folding knife and drug paraphernalia.
The victim suffered injuries to her right eye, nose, ear, shoulder, right leg and had a concussion as a result of the altercation that required hospitalization, according to the report.
In an unrelated case, Hazel also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, prohibited offensive weapon, possession of drug paraphernalia and one summary. For this he was given an additional period of incarceration of one year to four years in state prison.
He also pleaded guilty in a second DUI case for which he received a concurrent sentence and a possession of drug paraphernalia case with no additional penalty.