John Jefferson
Harry Rugg, II (Somerset County Prison).
A Pennsylvania man is behind bars after he viciously attacked his neighbor in a raging huff because he believed the other man had sex with his mother, according to Keystone State police.
Harry Rugg, II, 19, stands accused of aggravated assault – causing significant bodily injury with extreme indifference, simple assault, making terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, harassment – subjecting another to physical contact, and disorderly conduct – engaging in fighting, according to Somerset County court records.
The contours of the victim’s relationship with the defendant’s mother – or if one actually does exist – are unclear.
Late Sunday night, Pennsylvania State Police were called out to a residence on Whites Creek Road in Addison Township – a tiny community that makes up part of the Johnstown metro area.
When police responded to the call about the physical altercation between two men, Rugg himself allegedly volunteered the admission that he went to his neighbor’s house – allegedly motivated by the belief that the victim was involved, sexually, with his mother.
The victim was allegedly covered in blood when law enforcement arrived.
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Rugg would apparently neither accept the other man in loco parentis or in flagrante delicto with his actual parent, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Altoona-based CBS affiliate WTAJ.
So, the defendant allegedly confessed: he started in on his neighbor’s 2004 Chevrolet Corvette. The neighbor, for his part, said he came outside to find Rugg standing on top of the car, noted the “extensive damage” to the vehicle, and confronted him about the destruction.
“You tried to f––– my mom,” Rugg allegedly shouted before jumping down and attacking the man. “I’m going to kill you.”
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In the ensuing melee, the defendant allegedly bit off a piece of the victim’s ear. Rugg also punched the man in the face and body multiple times, police said, resulting in four or five teeth being knocked out.
In a perhaps oddly specific gesture of rage, the defendant attempted to bite off exactly three of the victim’s fingers, police say.
Rugg failed to remove those digits but did use his teeth to tear some flesh off of his neighbor’s arm, according to law enforcement.
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Police say the victim was initially taken to nearby Somerset Hospital but quickly referred to specialists due to the nature and location of the injuries suffered during the fight.
Law&Crime reached out to the public information officer for the Pennsylvania State Police troop that covers Somerset County, but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
Rugg is currently being detained in the Somerset County Prison after failing to make $75,000 bail, court records show. The defendant is next slated to appear in court on Aug. 22.
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