CLEARFIELD – A Latrobe man arrested when a search warrant was executed on a Clearfield residence in January pleaded guilty to aggravated assault Monday.
When police searched Zachary Douglas Tibbens, 22, an uncapped needle stuck an officer, according to reports.
Tibbens was sentenced to six months to one year in jail and two years consecutive probation by Judge Paul Cherry.
He was ordered to complete a drug and alcohol counseling program.
In a second case, he pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia. For this he was given one year concurrent probation. He was fined a total of $350 plus costs.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Tibbens told police he didn’t have anything that could hurt the officer who was about to search him. After the officer was stuck by the needle, Tibbens stated that neither the needle nor the pants he was wearing belonged to him.
The search warrant was issued for the home of Joshua Root and his wife after their 9-month-old daughter was found to be under the influence of both cocaine and amphetamine.
The couple’s older daughter told investigators her mother got angry with her father after her little sister got sick. She said her dad kept his “stuff” on the coffee table.
During a search of their home, police allegedly found 14 used stamp bags of heroin, drug paraphernalia and a sawed-off shotgun. A cloth used to wipe down the coffee table was sent to a lab for testing.
Root admitted to using methamphetamine earlier that day, according to the report.
In February he pleaded guilty at the magistrate level to three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia for the items uncovered in the raid.
Additional charges are expected to be filed against Root.
Another man on the scene at the time of the search was Nicholas Allen Rowles, 23, Houtzdale.
He is charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia for items found in his truck including several smoked marijuana joints, a package of crystal methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and a loaded rifle.
