From staff reports
A transient man is facing charges for fleeing from police and punching a police officer in the face.
Franklin police said in a criminal complaint they were called to Sheetz at about 9 a.m. Sunday for a retail theft.
An officer located Charlie Nichols, 31, behind the Franklin Library where he had ducked into a doorway, the complaint said.
Nichols stood with “his hands postured in a boxing stance” and advanced toward police, the complaint said. The officers deployed their tasers at Nichols four times but the tasers had no effect on him, the complaint said.
Nichols ran from the officers through the drive through at PNC Bank, then he crossed Liberty Street and impeded traffic before running into Bandstand Park, the complaint said.
The officers pursuing Nichols ordered him to stop, and he stopped, turned and punched one of the officers in the face with a closed fist, the complaint said.
He was then arrested, according to the complaint.
Police said they found a bottle of alcohol in the doorway of the library as well as a second empty bottle in a nearby grassy area. The alcohol had been reported stolen from Sheetz, the complaint said.
Then in a cell at the police station, Nichols exposed himself in front of the camera in the cell and also urinated all over the floor, the complaint said.
Nichols has been charged with a felony count of aggravated assault, misdemeanor counts of simple assault, resisting arrest, retail theft, tamper with/ fabricate physical evidence, indecent exposure, escape and disorderly conduct, and summary counts of criminal mischief and public drunkenness.
He was arraigned Monday and placed in the Venango County jail after failing to post bail, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled Dec. 2 in Central Court.
