Man charged in Arnold shooting accused of asking victim not to testify

A Somerset man accused of shooting an Arnold man during a robbery last year tried to ask him in May not to testify, according to court papers.

Nicholas J. Haynes, 23, was charged last week with witness intimidation after authorities said he tried to get a note to the man he is accused of shooting April 12, 2018.

Haynes has been held at the Westmoreland County Prison on $250,000 bail since April 27, 2018 when he was arrested on attempted homicide and related charges in connection with the Arnold shooting. County detectives said in court papers Haynes gave a handwritten note in May to another inmate and asked his fellow prisoner deliver it to the man Haynes is accused of shooting. The wounded man, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, was being held at the jail then on unrelated charges, police said.

Jail officials got the note and turned it over to investigators. The note addressed the wounded man by his street name and asked him not to testify against Haynes, according to court papers. The note was signed “Nick.”

Bail in the new case was set Monday at $50,000. A Sept. 20 preliminary hearing is scheduled. Haynes’ attorney declined comment.

Police said the Arnold man was shot three times during a robbery on Kenneth Street and was hospitalized for several weeks afterward.

Prior to the shooting, the wounded man and three others allegedly were arranging a trip to Latrobe to buy drugs when they ran into Haynes in Arnold, police said. Haynes was arrested two weeks later in Jeannette.

Trial in the attempted homicide case is tentatively scheduled for October.