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Suspect is held after prelim hearing

A Glade Township man has been bound over on all charges stemming from a stabbing earlier this month as a result of a Tuesday preliminary hearing.

And the Commonwealth added several charges — the most serious being attempted rape — to the slate that Nicholas K. Bennett, 35, 2882 Cobham Park Road, faces from the incident that occurred on Feb. 9.

The incident started with a dispute between Bennett and a female, who he has previously dated. She testified that their relationship is now that of a roommate.

The female victim reported that she lived with Bennett and her two children and that they have had “episodes before.”

She testified she has asked him “every day” to leave, even driving him to family in Georgia and added that he’s addicted to video games.

The testimony offered during the preliminary hearing didn’t fit a defined chronological order.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Police interviewed the female, who reported that Bennett had been drinking whiskey for several hours and became angry, telling police he “punched (the) wall in several places” and “threw a large knife against the wall and held a small knife against her left leg.”

The woman reported that Bennett “was holding her and trying to put a choke hold on her… saying things like you know how it ends on Snapped” — a TV show that highlights murder cases.

She testified that the large knife that was thrown was a machete. She said he threw it “towards my direction” in an attempt to scare her.

She also testified that he tried to rape her three times during this ordeal. Bennett allegedly “held me down good” and she said he pulled his penis out. She testified she had nothing but a lighter and attempted to light his penis on fire.

She testified that she called a male friend of hers to potentially assist in deescalating this situation.

Testimony alleged that Bennett had turned off all the lights on the residence and told the woman to call her friend and tell him not to come.

The friend testified that he met one of the female’s daughters outside the house who told him that Bennett was choking her mother and had a knife to her throat.

He said that the daughter let him into the house.

The woman was able to escape and ran out of the house to her daughters while he confronted Bennett, knocking him down onto the bed. That’s when Bennett, he testified, stabbed him twice in the back.

As the scuffle continued, the male victim testified being stabbed in the back three times in addition to a slice wound before being able to disarm Bennett, who ultimately fled the scene in the female’s vehicle.

District Attorney Rob Greene showed the male victim a photo of the knife that police took into evidence and he said it “looks like the knife that got me in the back.”

The male victim was flown to UPMC Hamot for treatment and he said he “got to go for a flying lesson.”

Trooper Jeffrey Dahl with the Pennsylvania State Police said the male victim was being treated for his injuries when he arrived on scene and observed a “large puddle of blood” and the knife on the porch.

He testified that a BOLO was issued on the vehicle that Bennett left the scene driving and that later in the evening there were approximately six law enforcement units looking for the vehicle.

Troopers observed the vehicle and were concerned a pursuit was underway as Bennett was pulling away from them but he was ultimately taken into custody after a traffic stop.

“The house definitely looked like something had happened there,” Dahl said.

Greene added three charges — strangulation, criminal mischief and attempted rape — on Tuesday. That’s in addition to the charges of aggravated assault, flight to avoid apprehension, trial or punishment, DUI, terroristic threats, simple assault, harassment and driver required to be licensed that he had previously been charged with.

District Judge Laura Bauer bound over on all charges to the Court of Common Pleas. Bennett participated in the hearing via video from the Warren County Jail.

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