Court briefs
Man acquitted A 49-year-old Merrittstown man accused of breaking into a man’s home and assaulting him was acquitted of the most serious charges against him Tuesday in Fayette County Court.
Donald E. McFadden, of 176 Pennsylvania Ave., was acquitted of robbery, burglary, simple assault and theft, but convicted of receiving stolen property.
McFadden allegedly kicked in the door of John Berdar’s Menallen Township home and stole $60 after Berdar refused to cash a check for another woman.
Judge John F. Wagner Jr. will sentence McFadden at a later date.
Man found not guilty
A Brownsville man was acquitted on all charges in an alleged plot to steal over five dozen cartons of cigarettes.
Harry King Sr., 58, was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, theft, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy. He was found not guilty of all charges on Tuesday in Fayette County Court.
Brownsville police alleged that he and another man broke into Bate’s Shirt Shack last May 22 and took $2,048 in cigarettes. The cigarettes, police allege, were later sold.
King went to trial before Judge Gerald R. Solomon.
Trial gets under way
The criminal trial for a 36-year-old Connellsville woman accused of simple assault began Tuesday before Fayette County Judge John F. Wagner Jr.
Rose Mae Wingrove of 1150 Breakneck Road faces a lone charge of simple assault. She is represented by attorney Jeffrey Proden. Assistant District Attorney Denise Simon is prosecuting the case.