Vandergrift man accused of breaking stepdad's back for refusing to give him lift

A Vandergrift man is accused of breaking his stepfather’s back when he attacked him for refusing to give him a ride to a clinic.

The same day, Washington Township police accused the man of attacking his girlfriend, who was recovering from C-section surgery, while she was holding their 6-day-old child.

Vandergrift police charged Brandon Stanton, 28, of the 700 block of Irving Street with a felony count of aggravated assault along with counts of simple assault and harassment. He faces a preliminary hearing Aug. 15 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.

Stanton also was charged by Washington Township police with a felony count of endangering the welfare of children along with counts of simple assault and harassment.

Stanton was released from custody on a $50,000 unsecured bond. He was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing July 24 before District Judge Jason Buczak for the charges filed by Washington Township police.

Vandergrift police wrote in a criminal complaint that officers were dispatched shortly after 9 a.m. June 10 to a home in the 700 block of Irving Street for a domestic dispute between two men.

Police said Stanton’s stepfather had cuts and dried blood around his eye and nose and was complaining of chest pain.

The stepfather told officers he arrived home from work shortly before 8 a.m. and was drinking beer while preparing a meal, the complaint said.

The man told police that Stanton came to the kitchen to ask for a ride to a clinic, but the stepfather refused because he had been drinking, the complaint said.

The man told police Stanton became angry when he told him that he is a “grown man” and should “drive himself.”

Stanton is accused of pushing his stepfather into a laundry room door frame and then “slamming” him repeatedly against the washer and dryer and then the floor, where he began stomping on him, the complaint said.

The man got away from Stanton and called his wife to tell her that he had been attacked by her son, the complaint said.

When the woman got to the house and ordered Stanton to leave, he again attacked his stepfather, the complaint said.

Investigators said the man suffered two spinal fractures and a broken sternum during the attacks by Stanton, according to the complaint.

Additional charges filed

Later that day, Washington Township police officers were dispatched to a home in the 1500 block of Gilmar Street shortly before 10 p.m. after a woman reported that her boyfriend, Stanton, was “high and out of control.”

The woman told police she refused to let Stanton hold their 6-day-old baby because he was under the influence of drugs. He responded by repeatedly punching himself in the head, according to a criminal complaint.

She told them Stanton got angrier when she ordered him to leave, and he took her cellphone when she tried to call 911, the complaint said.

She told police she tried to call 911 from a landline but Stanton grabbed her from behind in a bear hug and pressed against fresh stitches from the cesarean section.

The woman said she was holding the infant during the exchange with Stanton.

Stanton fled into the woods nearby and police were not able to find him, instead charging him by summons, the complaint said.