CLEARFIELD – A state prison inmate, Richard Edwin Winghart Jr., has been accused of throwing and spraying feces on two staff members when he was housed at the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale.
Winghart has been charged by Clearfield-based state police with two felony counts of aggravated harassment by prisoner. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on June 20, 2017, a trooper spoke with a registered nurse regarding the incident. She said it occurred while she was passing medications in “A Pod” with a corrections officer.
She said she provided medication to Winghart, which he took from her. However, he held the wicket “hostage” with his arm, and he demanded phone privileges.
When they walked away from his cell, Winghart allegedly threw liquid feces at her and the CO. He also allegedly used a squirt bottle to spray them with feces.
The nurse told the trooper she got feces on her face, arms and uniform. She proceeded to the medical department for assessment; she also had photos taken.
As soon as she got home, she said she removed her uniform and placed it in a garbage bag, which she still had. The trooper told her he would come to her residence to collect her uniform for the investigation.
The next day, the trooper obtained video surveillance of the incident. He observed Winghart sticking his arm out of the wicket and throwing something toward the nurse and CO.
He observed Winghart throwing something again before spraying a liquid toward them. Winghart threw something again before the two left his pod.
The trooper reviewed photographs of the nurse and CO and their clothing, and a light brown substance was splattered on them.
A written DOC statement noted fecal matter on the nurse’s right side of her face, arm, right side of her trunk and leg. The CO was exposed to fecal matter on his face, trunk, right leg, inner left leg and right arm.
On Aug. 11, 2017, state police received a laboratory analysis completed on the clothing items.
Chemical testing indicated that fecal material was present on the front and back of the uniform shirt and pants. It was also present on the front and back of the scrub top and pants.