A Schuylkill County man is facing charges after an alleged assault at the Dirt Mall last month.
According to court papers filed last week, State Police-Schuylkill Haven say they responded to a reported incident at Renninger’s Farmers Market on Aug. 17. At the scene, Troopers say they met with two victims of the alleged incident.
A man said he’d gone to the market to “make peace” with Joseph Szeliga, 62, of Minersville, over a previous incident the two had had together. That attempt reportedly escalated into a verbal argument between the two men.
A woman attempted to intervene in the argument, police say.
At that time, the woman said she pushed Szeliga away from her. Szeliga allegedly grabbed the woman and pushed her against a wall. She said the argument continued and she once again tried to intervene by getting between the two men. Szeliga then allegedly pushed her a second time, this time harder against a wall.
He then allegedly followed the man out to the parking lot, where he shoved him to the ground, causing a cut on the victim’s right elbow.
Police have charged Szeliga with a single count of simple assault and two counts of harassment. He’s been ordered to appear before Magisterial District Judge AJ Serina for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 14.
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TiredoftheRhetoric
September 11, 2025 at 9:14 pm
I find this article super one sided. Why do you name one person and not all parties. The person touched first which is also assault and yet they are made to look innocent. I am so sick of one sided reporting.
Canary Commenter
September 22, 2025 at 3:18 pm
This is not one-sided reporting. If there is another side to the story, it will come out in court and we’ll be there to report it. This article is based off charging documents filed by police. That’s why we use words like allegedly and reportedly profusely in the article. All claims are attributed to the stated victim and police.