City man held for trial in stabbing case
A man accused of stabbing his roommate and friend during an altercation at their Butler apartment was ordered today to stand trial.
District Judge Pete Shaffer ruled that testimony presented at Steven D. Pintell’s preliminary hearing suggested that he committed the crime.
Pintell is charged with felony aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He remains in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail.
Pintell allegedly stabbed 31-year-old Daniel Gerard in the early morning of April 15 at the apartment building in the 400 block of West New Castle Street.
Gerard suffered life-threatening injuries that left him hospitalized in Pittsburgh with a collapsed lung from a stab wound in the upper left chest, according to Butler police and testimony at Monday’s hearing.
Pintell and Gerard were arguing before the incident.
Pintell then fled the apartment.
Documents said when police got there officers saw Gerard in a chair and covered in “a tremendous amount of blood.”
He was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital before a medical helicopter flew him to the trauma center at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He was treated for the stab wound to his chest and subsequently released.
Police also found Pintell in the courtyard at the apartment building. He admitted stabbing Gerard, documents said.
