Cops: Delmont man claiming to be attacked by woman with hammer arrested for rape, assault

After rushing to assist a Delmont man who claimed to have been attacked by a woman wielding a hammer, police ended up arresting him on charges of rape and assault.

Joseph P. Swisher, 49, is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bail. He is charged with rape, aggravated assault, unlawful restraint, strangulation, indecent assault and making terroristic threats.

“Yes, (Swisher) initially tried to play off like he was a victim in this,” said Chief T.J. Klobucar of the Delmont Police Department.

About 7:30 p.m. Sunday, police responded to Swisher’s East Pittsburgh Street apartment, where he reported he was assaulted and robbed by an unknown woman who attacked him with a hammer, Officer Dylan Keefer reported.

Swisher told police he grabbed the hammer and beat the woman’s head “on his dining room table twice when she took off,” Keefer wrote in court documents.

Initially, however, Keefer said Swisher alleged the assault happened in front of a local pizza shop and that he could not identify the assailant, though he reported he believed she worked at a specific business in town. Keefer said he repeatedly asked Swisher how he could identify his assailant when he said earlier “he couldn’t see who it was.”

According to court documents, Keefer, assisted by Murrysville police, interviewed the woman who Swisher claimed assaulted him. She reported that he invited her to his apartment to “smoke marijuana.” Instead, she said she confronted him for allegedly sexually assaulting one of her friends earlier Sunday.

The woman told police Swisher threatened to “do to you what I did to her” before he physically attacked her. She told police Swisher slammed her head into a countertop and “began stomping on her head and body with his feet and grabbed a screw driver and tried stabbing her in the stomach with it.”

Swisher ran out of the apartment, giving her the chance to escape, the woman told police.

Keefer said police took photographs of bruises and cuts on her head and body. The woman also provided police with text messages she received from Swisher inviting her to his apartment, Keefer reported.

After arresting Swisher, Keefer said he went to the residence of the first alleged victim. She “became very distraught” when he mentioned why he was there, Keefer reported.

The woman said she went to Swisher’s apartment about 2 a.m. Sunday, after she got off work. That is when Swisher attacked her, she told police.

“The victim stated that after a brief struggle, she was able to start screaming so loudly that it caused (Swisher) to stop,” Keefer wrote.

Keefer alleges Swisher covered the woman’s mouth with his hand with such force that it caused bruising.

According to court dockets, Export District Judge Charles R. Conway denied Swisher bail “to ensure the safety of the community.” A preliminary hearing is scheduled Oct. 29.