Trial ordered for Vandergrift teen accused of beating 63-year-old man with his own walking stick
A teenager accused of beating a 63-year-old Vandergrift man until he fell to the ground and then continuing the assault by beating the man with his own walking stick was ordered to stand trial.
Jackson Mills, 15, of the 200 block of Holmes Street in Vandergrift was charged Oct. 31 with felony counts of aggravated assault, robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of simple assault.
Mills, who is being charged as an adult, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Dec. 19 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec, who ordered him to stand trial.
He was released from custody on a $1,000 unsecured bond to await formal arraignment Jan. 24 in Westmoreland County Court, court records show.
Police wrote in a criminal complaint that the man’s daughter called police shortly before 11 p.m. Oct. 6, telling them her father was jumped by four people while walking near the intersection of West Monroe and Hancock avenues near Kennedy Park.
The woman and another man detained a juvenile involved in the incident until police arrived, according to the complaint. The juvenile told officers he was walking home from a football game when he met up with Mills and two teenage girls, the complaint said.
When police met with Mills and his mother at the police station Oct. 9, they questioned him about the assault and he admitted to beating up the man, according to the complaint.
Police said Mills told officers that the man was trying to talk to the two girls and said: “I thought it was wrong at the time and beat him up.”
Police said a video of the assault shows Mills yelling at the man before punching him in the head.
In the video, the man is seen trying to balance on a wooden walking stick while being punched by Mills, the complaint said. The man fell to the ground after Mills repeatedly kicked him and struck him with his knee, police said.
Mills continued hitting the man before grabbing the wooden staff and repeatedly striking him, according to the complaint.
After the assault, Mills is seen asking the person video recording the assault to send a copy to him, according to investigators.
Tony LaRussa is a TribLive reporter. A Pittsburgh native, he covers crime and courts in the Alle-Kiski Valley. He can be reached at tlarussa@triblive.com.
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