Elijah Myers

CHICORA — A man is headed for trial in an alleged “sneak attack” at a Petrolia bar that left another patron with a broken bone in his upper arm.

Elijah S. Myers, 21, of Fairview Township was ordered held for court on felony and misdemeanor assault charges at a preliminary hearing Tuesday before District Judge Lewis Stoughton.

Trooper Bertha Cazy testified that she spoke to the victim, a 57-year old Petrolia man, at Butler Memorial Hospital the day following the Jan. 22 altercation at the Oil Boom Saloon on Main Street. Cazy said he told her that while at the bar, the defendant “grabbed him and threw him to the ground.” He said the hospital diagnosed him with a fractured right humerus.

On questioning by prosecutor David Beichner, a county assistant district attorney, the trooper said she later spoke to the bartender who was working that night. The bartender did not see the alleged assault, only the apparent aftermath.

“She observed the victim on the ground,” Cazy said, “and the defendant walking away.”

On Jan. 24, the bar owner provided Cazy with surveillance video that the trooper described as showing the assault. Moments before the altercation, she said, the victim is seen at the end of the bar and Myers is just feet away talking to another person.

“(The video) shows the defendant walking closer to the victim,” Cazy said. “They don't speak or anything, and then (Myers) suddenly grabs the victim by the arm and neck and throws him to the ground, then walks away.”

“So, this was a surprise attack?” Beichner asked.

“Yes,” the trooper replied.

“That resulted in serious bodily injury?” Beichner asked.

“Yes,” Cazy said.

On cross-examination, the trooper told Myers' attorney, Joseph Charlton, the victim did not tell her why he did not seek medical attention the night of the incident,

She also said she had not received any medical records about the victim's injuries.

Charlton's questioning subsequently turned to the video.

“On the video, after the victim is pulled to the ground, were there any punches thrown?” he asked.

“No,” Cazy replied. There were no kicks or shoves either, she said, once the victim was on the ground.

“Was there any other conduct by my client on the video,” Charlton asked, “which would indicate any type of physical assault?”

“After the victim was on the ground? No,” the trooper said.

Cazy was the lone witness to testify. Following the officer's testimony, Charlton asked Stoughton to dismiss the charges — aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment — against Myers. “The entire case is based upon hearsay,” he said. “We don't have a victim here personally testifying. We don't have a video in court showing any of the circumstances of this case.”

While a 2017 state Supreme Court ruling permits prosecutors to present hearsay testimony at the preliminary hearing level to establish a case, Beichner said he presented “more than rank hearsay.”

He noted that the victim would be available to testify at trial.

Referring to the top count against his client, Charlton argued there was a lack of evidence to show the victim suffered “serious bodily injury,” or that Myers acted with “extreme indifference to the value of human life,” which are elements of the aggravated assault charge. Beichner, however, said the case rises to the level of aggravated assault. “This was a surprise, sneak attack in a bar that was unprovoked,” he said, noting that the victim suffered a broken bone.

Stoughton ruled all charges be bound over to trial.