Preliminary hearings

BELLEFONTE -- District Justice Carmine W. Prestia ordered a 20-year-old Penn State student to stand trial yesterday on a simple assault charge, according to court documents.

The charge stems from a Dec. 3, 1998, incident in which Robert S. Zakos Jr. allegedly picked up a dinner plate and pushed it into another man's face, according to the documents. Zakos then allegedly jumped on the victim and struck his face three times, according to the documents.

Zakos said mounting tension between he and the victim motivated the attack, according to the documents.

-- by Kelly Bradish and Susie Xu