Cops: Hempfield man jailed after ‘domestic’ altercation inside Walmart
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A 37-year-old man who allegedly brawled with his girlfriend Saturday inside a Walmart in Hempfield and later scuffled with state troopers outside after refusing to surrender was jailed on criminal charges.
Anthony J. Villa was charged by state police with multiple counts of harassment, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness after the 10:21 a.m. Saturday incident at the Greengate Centre store.
Trooper Ryan Ilich said multiple witnesses said the altercation began shortly after the pair walked into the store and Villa began grabbing the woman’s backpack and demanding she give him the keys to the SUV. Court records indicate customers and store employees came to assist the woman as she began “screaming for help.”
The woman fled toward the pharmacy area where another struggle ensued. Ilich said Villa pushed the woman into an Easter egg display, knocking the woman and the display to the floor.
“Villa then fell on top of (the woman) on the ground … nearby bystanders became involved, pulling the parties apart and Villa fled into the parking lot,” Ilich wrote.
Dispatchers received multiple calls about the incident, troopers said, and in addition to state police, police from Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg responded.
Police discovered Villa “hiding inside the trunk” of his green Kia Soul that was surrounded by police and witnesses who followed him.
Ilich reported that Villa refused repeated requests to surrender and police had to break a window in the SUV to take him into custody.
Villa is in the county prison on $10,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing before District Judge Mark Mansour.