New Jersey man charged after biting police officer during Saltsburg arrest
A New Jersey man is accused of biting a state trooper while trying to fill a fraudulent prescription Wednesday at a Saltsburg pharmacy.
William Tifa, 25, of Newark, faces charges including assault of a law enforcement officer, attempting to obtain a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, identity theft, simple assault and more.
State police received a March 9 call from Saltsburg Pharmacy on Washington Street. Staff told police that a man was trying to have a fraudulent prescription filled for phenergan-codeine, prednisone and azithromycin, according to police.
Pharmacy staff contacted the doctor listed on the prescription and determined it had not been authorized.
On Wednesday , the man, later determined to be Tifa, arrived at the pharmacy and attempted to pick up the prescription. Staff told him it would take 15 minutes to fill, and contacted the Saltsburg Police Department, who sent an officer in uniform to the pharmacy.
When Tifa returned, the officer confronted him, and Tifa bit the officer’s arm during the struggle that ensued. State police who also responded to the pharmacy helped take Tifa into custody. Police said he briefly broke free while being escorted from the building, but was quickly apprehended by state police.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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