Penn State Student Accused of Stabbing Man During Fight in Patton Township

A Penn State University Park student was charged on Sunday for allegedly stabbing another man during a fight at a Patton Township apartment complex.

Judah-Tafari Sampieri, 20, of New Haven, Connecticut, is accused of stabbing the man in the lower back with a serrated kitchen knife just after midnight at The Bryn, 601 Vairo Boulevard

Sampieri told Patton Township police the man “had harassed his girlfriend by grabbing her head in a headlock,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. He said he embarrassed the other man, who left and then returned to the apartment. Sampieri declined to provide further information to police.

The other man said he and Sampieri agreed to fight on the lawn of the apartment complex. Sampieri allegedly stabbed him during the altercation, police wrote.

Officers arrived to find the alleged victim had a three-quarter-inch wound on his back just above the waist and “there was an immense amount of blood,” according to the affidavit.

EMS took the man to Mount Nittany Medical Center to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Patton Township Police Chief Tyler Jolley said on Monday.

Sampieri is charged with one felony count of aggravated assault, misdemeanor counts of possession of an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault, and one summary count of harassment.

He was arraigned on Sunday morning before District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker, who denied bail, citing a “grave public safety concern.” He is being held at the Centre County Correctional Facility.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 6.