COOPER TOWNSHIP – A 36-year-old Columbus, OH man was taken into custody following a physical altercation Sunday night on Interstate 80 in Cooper Township.
Andrew Lee Tate III, 36, of Columbus, OH was charged with aggravated assault and other related offenses. He was arraigned in front of Magisterial District Judge James L. Hawkins. He was placed in the Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $50,000 straight bail.
According to the incident report, at around 11:38 p.m. Sunday, a 30-year-old Columbus, OH woman and Tate engaged in a verbal argument while traveling westbound on I-80. As a result, the woman pulled over onto the north shoulder at the 132.7 mile marker in Cooper Township, police said.
Police said their argument reportedly escalated and resulted in Tate putting the woman in a headlock while still inside her vehicle. Tate then reportedly attempted to drag her from the vehicle and toward westbound traffic.
Police said Tate allegedly told the woman that she “was going to die.” She was reportedly holding her 5-year-old daughter at the time. They said her 12-year-old daughter struck Tate with a tire iron to break his grasp of the alleged victim.
Police said a second altercation then ensued during which Tate reportedly struck the woman in the back of the head with a tire iron. The police report stated that the woman was rendered unconscious.
At some point, police said the woman and her children ran from the vehicle. Tate reportedly fled in the woman’s vehicle with his 10-year-old son. However, he was stopped by the state police on I-80 at mile marker 90.
Tate was taken into custody without further incident. The woman was treated and released from the Clearfield Hospital.