A Schuylkill County man already jailed on charges he sexually assaulted a sleeping Pottsville woman is now accused of walking up behind another inmate in the yard at Schuylkill County Prison and punching him in the head because he wasn’t allowed to shoot a basketbalL.
Tyshon Handley, 35, of Pottsville, is charged with one count of simple assault, a second-degree misdemeanor, in connection with the Aug. 21 incident. It’s the third criminal case filed against Handley since Aug. 5.
Police were directed to the prison on Aug. 25 to investigate an assault report, and made contact with prison staff, according to police. They told police the assault happened in the yard and was captured on video, police say.
The other inmate told police that Handley asked whether he could shoot basketball and that he said no because they were about to start a game, police say. The man told police that Handley later attacked him from behind, punching him multiple times in the head and face, and that he still had pain and soreness in the areas where he was hit.
Handley admitted striking the other inmate over feeling disrespected about not being able to shoot basketball, police say.
Police also reviewed the video, which shows Handley walk behind the other inmate and throw multiple punches. The man was struck at least twice, police say.
Handley has been held at Schuylkill County Prison on $75,000 bail since Aug. 5, when Pottsville police charged him with felony burglary, felony criminal trespass and misdemeanor indecent assault. Police say he climbed through a bathroom window of a Pottsville apartment and sexually assaulted a woman as she slept. Magisterial District Judge James Reiley bound all three of those charges over to Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas following a preliminary hearing last month, at which Handley dismissed his court-appointed attorney and represented himself.
State Police-Frackville separately charged Handley with indecent assault without consent, harassment and disorderly conduct in connection with a July 31 incident near Mall Rd. in New Castle Township. Police say he grabbed a woman by the head and neck inside her parked SUV and tried to force her head toward his genitals before a witness intervened. That case is still awaiting a preliminary hearing.
A preliminary hearing on the new simple assault charge is scheduled for Sept. 28 before Reiley.
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