Schuylkill County Man Says His Alleged Attacker Told Him He’d Use His Face to Clean Up Dog’s Mess

A Schuylkill County man who says he was assaulted while walking a dog earlier this year testified Tuesday that his attacker threatened him and said he’d smear his face in the dog’s dirt.

Mark Wesner, 60, of Schuylkill Haven, is facing simple assault and harassment charges over an alleged incident outside his apartment in the borough back on June 30. Those charges were held over for Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas following a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge AJ Serina on Tuesday.

During that hearing, Joseph Wells said he was walking a friend’s black lab on June 30 in an alley near Wesner’s apartment.

Wells testified Tuesday that it was hot that day and the black lab was having issues controlling its bowels. The dog had apparently pooped twice in its yard so Wells said he didn’t think he’d need a bag.

However, the dog did poop a third time, this time on its walk with Wells. Wells said the dog had diarrhea and did its business right in front of Wesner’s apartment door.

Wesner apparently did not react kindly to the dog’s action. Wells testified that he told Wesner he’d be back with a bag to clean up the dog’s mess.

“I didn’t think I was going to need a third bag,” Wells said.

He said that when he started to walk away to get that third poop bag, Wesner confronted him and began yelling.

Wells said Wesner used “a lot of profanities” and threatened to smear his face in the poorly formed dog dirt. He also said Wesner threatened to kill him three times.

“You’ll clean it up now with your bare (bleeping) hands,” Wells testified as to Wesner’s reaction.

He added that as he turned away, Wesner charged at him and knocked him over.

Wells said he held on to the dog’s leash as he got pushed and went over the lab. The fall aggravated a neck injury and caused him to suffer a broken finger, he said.

Wesner then allegedly stood over Wells and taunted him, indicating he’d kill him.

“I’ll smear your face in the dog (bleep),” Wells recalled Wesner saying to him.

Wesner told Serina that he’d never really been in District Court before Tuesday and wasn’t sure how it worked.

Several times throughout his preliminary hearing, Serina had to admonish Wesner for speaking at the wrong time.

Wesner spoke to Wells as he testified. When he realized that charges against him would remain unchanged, Wesner got visibly and verbally upset.

When Wells testified that it was an accident when the dog had a digestive issue, Wesner said aloud, “It wasn’t an accident.”

And when Wells testified that Wesner said he was going to kill him, the accused said, “Oh my (bleeping) God.”

This drew a reaction from Serina.

“You have to sit there quietly,” the judge said. “You’re not doing yourself any favors.”

Wesner’s attorney, James Conville, attempted to have the simple assault charge against his client dropped prior to the hearing. Serina disagreed and ordered the charges over for County court.

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