Alleged thief waives prelim. hearing
A Penn State student who police said stole about $4,500 from a State College shoe store where he worked waived his preliminary hearing yesterday. Otniel J. Calderon, 21, of the 100 block of West Nittany Avenue, faces four counts of theft-related charges for allegedly taking money from the cash register at Bare Foot, 130 E. College Ave., and altering sales receipts to hide the missing money, according to court documents.
An internal audit at the shoe store showed 170 cash sales were altered and money was taken between August and December, leading to a loss of $4,533.50. All incidents occurred during times that Calderon worked, according to court documents. His pretrial will be May 17 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.
Student to go to trial for furnishing
All but one of 17 people accused of furnishing alcohol to underage students involved in pedestrian accidents last semester waived their hearings, according to court documents.
The majority of the defendants will apply for the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program, said Centre County Assistant District Attorney Nathan Boob.
Gregory Daughenbaugh, 21, was the sole defendant to ask for a hearing. His charges -- two counts of furnishing alcohol to minors -- were sent to trial, according to court officials. His pretrial will be held May 17.
Fifteen of the 17 were Penn State students. Their charges included furnishing or selling alcohol to minors and unlawful acts relative to liquor, malt and brewed beverages and licenses.
Eleven of the defendants are charged for allegedly supplying alcohol Dec. 2 to freshman Michael Drauch, 18. State College police said a former Penn State student, Katherine Applegate, 23, drove drunk and hit Drauch near the Meridian apartment complex, 646 E. College Ave. Six others are charged for allegedly supplying alcohol Oct. 28 to Penn State junior Anthony Torsell, 20. Police said Torsell drove drunk and hit two men, killing one and critically injuring another.
Boob said it is the district attorney's duty to decide whether the defendants are eligible for ARD, a program designed to give first-time offenders a second chance.
Men charged for alleged bottle stabbing
Two men forced their way into an apartment on the 500 block of College Avenue at about 9:20 p.m. Monday and stabbed an occupant in the back with a broken bottle, State College police said. Brian Auman, 36, and Timothy Ash Jr., 25, of Centre Hall, were arrested last night and arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Jonathan Grine, police said. Auman is charged with burgulary, criminal tresspass, and simple assult. Ash is charged with burgulary, criminal tresspass, aggravated assult, and simple assult, police said. Both were being held in jail on $25,000 staight bail. The men also assaulted the victim's son and the son's friend, police said, but details of their assaults were unavailable yesterday. There was no information about the victim's condition.
Student reports assault on Pugh Street
A 21-year-old Penn State student was assaulted early Sunday morning on the 200 block of South Pugh St., State College police said. The victim described the assailant as a man of average height with short blond hair, police said. Police said the victim sustained no injuries and a weapon was not involved.
