Vandergrift woman accused of stabbing man with kitchen knives during argument

Kiski Township police charged a Vandergrift woman with felony aggravated assault because a man told them she stabbed him multiple times with kitchen knives during an argument last month, authorities say.

Amy Lee Hepler, 38, of Longfellow Street also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault, as well as recklessly endangering another person, according to a criminal complaint.

All the charges against her were waived to Common Pleas Court for trial during her preliminary hearing before District Judge James Andring on Dec. 29.

Armstrong County public defender James Ray, who is representing Hepler, said she was released from jail to await trial. He declined to comment on her case.

Police said the assault occurred when the man went to Hepler’s home about 4:15 p.m. Dec. 22 “to talk over some issues they were having,” according to the complaint.

He told police Hepler became “very irritated,” grabbed a large kitchen knife and began to “stab and lunge” at him. She then grabbed a second knife and continued to strike at him, police said.

The man said he left the house and went home after convincing Hepler to put the weapons down, the complaint said.

But when he disrobed to shower, he noticed he had suffered several small stab wounds to the upper part of his chest, the complaint said.

After tending to his injuries, he reported the incident to police, who took photographs of the wounds during an interview, according to the complaint.

Police said the man, whose identity was not disclosed, suffered moderate injuries.

Hepler, who could not initially be located by investigators, surrendered to police Dec. 23.