CLEARFIELD – A New Millport man who allegedly struck and killed a woman with a stolen vehicle was in court for sentencing on two, unrelated cases Tuesday.
Joshua Jeffrey Nelson, 30, currently an inmate of state prison, pleaded guilty to simple assault and recklessly endangering another person in one case and defiant trespass in the second case.
He was sentenced by Judge Paul Cherry to six months to two years in state prison and one year probation. This sentence will run concurrent with his sentence of three to 10 years in state prison that he received in November for a probation violation.
Nelson was in violation of his probation on a criminal trespass charge when he stole a car, struck a woman, fled the scene and then assaulted two, other women in the Brown Street area of DuBois Aug. 12, according to previously published articles.
When questioned about the status of charges for that incident on Wednesday, District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. said that the investigation is ongoing and charges will be filed in the near future.
Nelson was awaiting preliminary hearings for these two cases at the time of the incident. He was originally scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 29 for the assault case but that hearing was continued because he was admitted to a mental hospital in Clarion. He also asked to be admitted to a mental facility after he was arrested for defiant trespass on July 31.
According to a press release from Sandy Township police regarding the DuBois incident, officers were dispatched after several calls around 12:30 p.m. Aug. 12 for activities on Brown Street. Upon arrival to the scene, police allegedly found citizens who were restraining a male, later identified as Nelson, outside of a residence on Brown Street near its intersection with Blakely Avenue.
Police subsequently took custody of the male. Upon investigation police allegedly found several attempts were made by the suspect to steal vehicles from residences along Brown Street.
While committing the alleged theft of a vehicle and fleeing, police said he struck Besty Val Andryka, who was cutting grass in front of her residence; Andryka died as a result of her injuries.
According to the affidavit in the defiant trespass case, Nelson was on the property of the Park Avenue Towers in Curwensville Borough July 31 even though he was not privileged to be there. Police spoke with his mother who lived in that building. She advised the officers that Nelson was released from a Clarion mental hospital two days earlier. Recently he had made statements to her about “suicide by cop.”
Officers were able to make contact with Nelson who gave no indication that he was in distress or wanting to harm himself. Once he was in custody, Nelson commented that he thought he left the hospital too soon and would like to be admitted back to the hospital. Nelson was transported to an area hospital where he spoke with a mobile crisis worker.
The assault case occurred at Nelson’s residence in New Millport on July 3.
According to that affidavit, the victim told police that he and a female had given a ride home to Nelson’s girlfriend. While they were at the residence, Nelson became extremely irritated and started walking toward his pit-bull, which was caged, to let the dog out. The victim said the dog is extremely vicious and has bitten Nelson’s girlfriend in the past, which put her into a hospital.
When the victim tried to stop Nelson from releasing the dog, Nelson fell to the ground. He immediately got up and grabbed a knife. Stating “this is my house,” he raised the knife over his shoulder. Another witness grabbed Nelson’s arm quickly to stop him from striking the victim. The victim told police he had never been so scared and he feared for his life.