CLEARFIELD – A wanted Clearfield man is now behind bars for allegedly fracturing a Woodland man’s skull during an assault.
Michael Dwane Warrick, 31, is charged by Clearfield-based state police with felony aggravated assault, misdemeanor simple assault and summary harassment.
Warrick was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday, but it was continued until April 6, according to a court employee. He remains incarcerated in county jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.
According to the affidavit, the investigation began after Clearfield Borough police were called to Penn Highlands Clearfield Hospital for a stab victim on the morning of March 4.
The victim reported he went to a Main Street residence in Woodland the night before for $140 that was owed to him, and while inside, Warrick stabbed him twice in the head with a brass knuckle-style knife.
The borough officer notified state police as the incident had occurred within their jurisdiction. The victim was also flown to PHH’s DuBois hospital campus.
State police responded to the hospital and observed the victim’s injuries. Medical staff confirmed that the victim had suffered a fracture on the top part of his skull.
A criminal investigator interviewed the victim’s father who said he took his son to the residence March 3 because he was owed money.
He said the victim went inside alone and after a half-hour his girlfriend went to see what was taking so long.
He said the victim told her to “get out,” and when she came back to the vehicle, she told him they were inside fighting. He said the victim apparently owed Warrick money and that he believed it was a “set up.”
The investigator interviewed the victim’s girlfriend who said they went to the residence between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. March 3 so the victim could get money owed to him.
She said the victim went in alone but after a while, she went in and they wouldn’t open the door upstairs. She went back outside for a bit but then went back inside.
She said that’s when she saw the victim standing at the top of the stairs wiping blood from his head. She said he told her that when he got to the top step, Warrick took a “cheap shot.”
She said the victim saw Warrick pull something from his jacket before he hit him. She said it looked like the victim had been stabbed and they went to her residence.
She said the victim slept for about an hour and when he woke up, he was “not normal.” After a while, they had a friend take them to the hospital.
The investigator also interviewed the homeowner who said that Warrick and the victim were “taking care of unfinished business” because the victim owed Warrick money.
He said Warrick didn’t use any weapons and only his fists, and that he was right there watching the assault in the hallway.
When state police contacted the hospital, they were advised by staff that an edged-weapon or brass knuckles could have caused the victim’s injuries.