2 Adelphoi residents in Unity group home arrested after being stabbed in altercation

Paul Peirce, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
·2 min read

Feb. 23—Two wards at Adelphoi Village's Saxman House were arrested on assault charges after both were stabbed with scissors during an altercation in the non-profit's group home for adjudicated males in Unity, according to state police.

Timothy S. Rice, 20, was ordered held in the county prison on $5,000 bond Monday on charges of aggravated assault, harassment and simple assault filed by state police after his release from UPMC Mercy hospital in Pittsburgh, where he was flown by medical helicopter for multiple stab wounds he suffered during the fight that occurred just after noon Saturday.

Omar Hernandez-Vallejo, 18, was ordered held in the county prison Saturday after failing to post $50,000 bond on identical charges also filed by state police after the the pair fought.

Trooper Trey Parsley reported Hernandez-Vallejo was arraigned after he was treated and released at Excela Health Latrobe hospital for treatment of a large laceration on his right hand that took seven stitches to close and abrasions to his face.

Parsley said in court documents that witnesses who were in the room when the fight began said the pair began verbally arguing over "rumors" of their past juvenile criminal records and, then, the fight turned physical with both suffering injuries from scissors.

In interviews with troopers, both juvenile witnesses and Hernandez-Vallejo reported Rice initially grabbed the scissors during the altercation, but Hernandez-Vallejo was able to take them off him.

In an interview with Trooper Hayden Blough and Cpl. Wesley Wilson at UPMC Mercy, Rice told investigators that "he did not see any scissors" during any point in the altercation. He said he noticed scissors on the floor after the fight.

"(Rice) did not know he was stabbed until he stood up after the altercation," the troopers said Rice told them at the hospital.

Court documents state the pair voluntarily stopped fighting after staff members entered Rice's room at the group home on Saxman Road.

Neither Rice or Hernandez-Vallejo had attorneys listed in court documents. Preliminary hearings are scheduled March 1.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .