From staff reports
Three people are facing charges in connection with three unrelated assault incidents that occurred Christmas Day in Venango County.
In one case, a Rouseville man has been charged after he engaged in a fight with another man in Rouseville.
Franklin state police said they were called to a Mechanic Street residence at about 9 p.m. on Christmas for reports of two men involved in a fight.
Rudolph then hit the other man, and a woman who was in the house pepper-sprayed the two men to separate them and called police, the complaint said.
Rudolph had a bloody lip as a result of the fight and the other man had a “severe laceration to his left upper eyebrow,” the complaint said.
The complaint notes that both men said “this was mostly a mutual fight” and police found Rudolph to be the aggressor.
Rudolph was charged with a misdemeanor count of simple assault and a summary count of harassment. His preliminary hearing is scheduled Jan. 19 in Venango County Central Court.
In a second incident, Franklin state police were called to a residence on Ranch Street in Cranberry Township at about 10:30 p.m. on Christmas.
Police said in a criminal complaint that Coltin Collins, 24, had gotten into an argument with another man that became physical due to Collins becoming “agitated, aggressive and violent” when the other man wanted to leave the residence.
The other man’s account of the incident was consistent with what Collins said and the man had a minor injury to his lip, the complaint said.
Collins has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault and a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats. His preliminary hearing is scheduled Jan. 12 in Central Court.
In the third case, a Franklin woman has been charged with assaulting her father in Canal Township.
Franklin state police said in a criminal complaint they were called at about 4:30 p.m. on Christmas to a residence on Old Route 322 where Jamie Baker, 32, had struck her father in the face with an open hand.
Baker’s father then pushed her away in self-defense and she struck at him again, but he avoided the blow, the complaint said. Then he went outside and called police, according to the complaint.
When police arrived and tried to speak with Baker in a back bedroom, she made an “aggressive move” by coming at the officer quickly in a narrow hallway twice, the complaint said.
Police tried to arrest Baker and she resisted them, then after they had arrested her she tried to get out of the patrol car, the complaint said.
Baker has been charged with misdemeanor counts of simple assault and resisting arrest and a summary count of harassment. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled Jan. 12 in Central Court.
