BUFFALO TWP — A township man is accused of hiding a butcher knife that police say his fiancée used to try and kill him.

But that's not all 53-year-old Dale Orris allegedly did June 16 to protect the woman he loves.

Buffalo Township police said he acted aggressively toward officers who were trying to arrest his girlfriend, Dawn N. Tattershall, 37, during a struggle at the couple's Coal Street home.

Officers eventually found the knife, according to court documents, as well as a stash of suspected marijuana and other contraband that Orris placed in a shed after he was stabbed several times.

Police on Tuesday charged him with tampering with physical evidence, disorderly conduct, and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

The charges, all misdemeanors, were sent by summons through the office of District Judge Sue Haggerty in Saxonburg.

A call about 5:45 p.m. June 16 for a domestic dispute that turned into a stabbing sent police to Orris' home. Officers said they found the defendant covered in blood in the middle of the street.

Police described his injuries as stab wounds to his back, arm and chest. Orris told officers that Tattershall stabbed him with a knife, documents said.

But he denied knowing where the knife was, police said.

Officers had to force open two locked doors before they found Tattershall in a back bedroom of the house. She took a “defensive stance,” according to a police affidavit, and refused to get on the ground.

Police said they had to Taser the woman twice during the altercation.

But before they finally got Tattershall in handcuffs, the affidavit said, Orris entered the bedroom and “made several aggressive movements toward (officers).”

He left but only after police threatened to Taser him.

While being treated by an ambulance crew for his injuries, Orris again denied knowing the whereabouts of the knife, police said.

Officers looked through the house but could not find the knife. One more time, police said, they asked him about the alleged weapon.

This time, he admitted that he had placed it in a shed next to the house, before police responded to the call. He also advised the officers that he had locked the shed with one of his dogs in it.

That dog, he warned, “is not very friendly,” documents said.

Orris accompanied police to the shed where he and a friend secured the large dog and he led them to the knife.

One of the officers also spotted a wooden drawer with several baggies of suspected marijuana, documents said, and smoking pipes and a digital scale.

During a telephone interview Friday, before he was charged, Orris told the Butler Eagle that he threw the knife in the shed because he “didn't want anyone getting into trouble over something stupid.”

In the interview, he also claimed his fiancée stabbed him by accident and did not intend to hurt him, and he declared his love for her.

He said he only needed “a few stitches” at the hospital for his wounds.

He also acknowledged Tattershall suffers from bipolar disorder. Police would only say she has mental health issues.

One of the officers at the scene, in charging documents, said the woman blamed “voices in her head” for the stabbing.

Following the incident, police took her to Butler Memorial Hospital for a mental health evaluation, after she allegedly made statements that she wanted to kill herself.

Police subsequently charged her with attempted murder of the first degree, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.

Her arraignment on the charges, police said, is pending her discharge from the hospital.

Orris' preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 1.