CLEARFIELD – Five men accused of assaulting and robbing a man before taking his clothes and stealing his truck were scheduled for preliminary hearings Wednesday.
The charges stem from an incident on Oct. 6 at a Powell Avenue residence in Hyde where the man was allegedly attacked. After he ran from the scene, he was able to find some clothes at a bin near a church and contacted a resident on Riverview Road who called police.
One of the defendants reportedly admitted that they targeted the victim because they knew he had drugs. A bag containing 21.75 grams of crystal methamphetamine was recovered from one of the suspects.
John Irwin, 40, DuBois, and Jason Roy Sipe, 43, Hyde, are charged with various felony counts of conspiracy, robbery, and theft, as well as misdemeanor unlawful restraint, terroristic threats, simple assault, and more.
Both men waived their rights to preliminary hearings, sending their cases on to the court of common pleas.
Irwin is incarcerated on $100,000 bail. Sipe’s bail was lowered from $150,000 bail to $150,000, unsecured on Wednesday and he was released, according to online court documents.
A hearing was held for Paul Harold Hoyt, 34, Curwensville, who is charged with three felony counts of conspiracy, felony theft and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, as well as misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person, intentional possession of a controlled substance, two counts of conspiracy/simple assault and possession of drug paraphernalia and Bradley Alan Maines, 47, Woodland, who is charged with three felony counts of conspiracy, and misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and two counts of conspiracy/simple assault.
District Judge David Meholick ruled all charges against them be sent on to the county court. Both men have bail set at $150,000 and remain at the county jail.
Taylor James Wisor, 35, Hyde, is charged with three felony counts of conspiracy, and misdemeanor counts of possessing instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of conspiracy/simple assault.
He waived his right to a hearing. His bail was reduced from $50,000 to $50,000, unsecured bail and he was released.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the victim, who was dressed in women’s clothing, told police he had been assaulted and his vehicle stolen.
He explained he had been driving around with Maines, whom the police identified as a “known drug user/dealer” to various spots in the county. Maines got a phone call from Hoyt also identified as “a known drug user” in the report and the victim then drove to a Powell Avenue residence.
Once on scene, Maines exited the victim’s truck and talked with Hoyt as they walked around the property. The victim realized that Maines had left his vape in his truck, so he got out and attempted to return it to him.
Two men came from behind him, striking him in the legs/shin area with baseball bats, he told officials. They threatened and assaulted him, forcing him to take off his clothes until he was completely naked. They took his wallet, phone, and cards before they made him leave even though he was naked.
The victim explained he ran and hid on a property near Riverview Road. There he found a box near a church with clothing which he put on to “make himself look decent.” After this he went to a nearby home and had the residents call the police.
He said he did not know who the two men that attacked him were as they were wearing masks. The bats were made of silver metal and black wood.
The victim told police that neither Hoyt nor Maines struck him.
One officer on his way to the Powell Avenue home where he knew Wisor and Sipe, who was wanted by state parole, resided, saw Wisor’s vehicle enter the Hyde car wash and stop in a manual wash bay. Hoyt was in the passenger seat.
While he spoke with Wisor, Hoyt was moving around and reaching numerous times into the center console. After the officer spotted a metal tube style pipe, he requested another officer remove Hoyt from the vehicle to detain him as part of the investigation.
When Hoyt was checked for weapons, the other officer found a knife and saw. He also reportedly found a container with approximately one ounce of crystal methamphetamine.
At this point, Wisor told the officer the victim was accused of raping a woman and was being set up for the assault.
The victim’s truck was driven to Mann Road and left there, Wisor said.
Wisor consented to a search of his vehicle where police found a wooden bat on the floor of the back seat. They also found the victim’s cell phone and case.
During this questioning, Wisor claimed to be asleep during the assault and provided details he said from what Hoyt had told him.
Hoyt did not want to speak to the officers.
Wisor gave permission to the police to search his property and they found some of the victim’s clothes and a silver bat in his garage.
When officers traveled to Mann Road to try to locate the vehicle, they saw numerous articles of clothing scattered on the roadway leading to the truck which had damage to the side mirror, passenger side door, and scrapes on the side.
In a later interview, the victim said he heard that the people who robbed him were Sipe and Irwin, another “known drug user/dealer”. He said the shorter perpetrator suspected to be Irwin had threatened to “beat his brains in.”
Police checked the victim’s legs and found both shins displayed large contusions, they noted in the criminal complaint.
On Oct. 10, police found Sipe in the yard of the Powell Ave. residence and took him into custody for the state parole warrant.
In an interview with investigators, Sipe “originally was deceptive, but then began to cooperate.”
Sipe said there were “issues” between Irwin and the victim based on an incident involving Irwin’s girlfriend. He said Irwin told him to grab the wooden bat and stand there while he had the metal bat.
When Sipe was asked why he would listen to Irwin, he explained he said he owed him drug money.
He admitted they wore bandanas during the incident, but claimed he did not strike the victim. It was Irwin who hit him in the legs with the metal bat once or twice and then forced him into the garage where he took off his clothes, Sipe said. The victim then ran away.
When asked if this had anything to do with a rape, Sipe admitted it was “over drugs” because the victim had been selling them.
He relayed that Hoyt called the victim to get him to the residence and Hoyt drove the truck to Mann Road where he struck a mailbox.
During his interview, Wisor began to cooperate and admitted to his part in the assault.
He said he was aware why the victim was being called to the residence. He said the wooden bat was taken from his vehicle by Sipe. He said Irwin also had a bat.
Wisor stated that all he could see in his head is the victim “getting beat.”
Irwin struck the victim first in the face with a closed fist and then he was struck with the bats. He was then taken into the garage and made to take off his clothes and leave.
Sipe was the only person to return to the residence which made Wisor think “something worse had happened” to the victim.
Later in the evening, Hoyt told him they needed to get rid of the truck. Wisor said he drove his vehicle, following Hoyt in the truck. Hoyt whom he said was under the influence of a controlled substance, struck a mailbox around Montgomery Run Road.
Hoyt took the saw and the plastic bag with numerous small plastic bags suspected to be full of methamphetamine from the truck, Wisor said. This was the same bag later taken from Hoyt.
Because he was uncomfortable with that amount of “product” at this residence, Wisor said he told Hoyt to get rid of it. But Hoyt said they could make money by selling it.