A North Belle Vernon man is behind bars after, police say, he took two knives into an optician’s office Monday, knocked over several display cases and stabbed a couch and the walls, according to court papers.
Borough police said Darnell Wesley Howell Sr., 54, was not wearing any clothes at the time.
Police were called to Check Eye Group on Broad Avenue in North Belle Vernon at 1 p.m. Monday for reports of a nude man with two knives, according to court papers. Investigators said Howell put a butcher knife and steak knife on a display table and ran out the front door while an officer followed.
He tried to go inside businesses and parked cars on two blocks of Broad Avenue before being apprehended, authorities say. Police said he appeared to be in a manic state and was sweating profusely.
Investigators reported the optician’s office was in disarray with display cases and eyeglass frames lying on the floor and numerous stab holes in a couch and the walls. Witnesses reported seeing Howell swinging the knives and knocking over display cases, according to court papers. Employees said they fled into other rooms during the incident.
Authorities seized the knives and a pair of black gym shorts from the office. Howell was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
He is charged with aggravated assault, indecent exposure, public drunkenness and related offenses. He is being held at the Westmoreland County Prison on $50,000 bail.
A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 16. Howell did not have an attorney listed in online court records.
Howell has a long list of criminal convictions dating to the 1990s in Westmoreland, Washington and Allegheny counties, according to court records. In 2015, he was sentenced to two years and six months to 15 years in a state prison on drug charges filed by Charleroi police. He is on parole in that case, according to Pennsylvania Parole Board records.
He previously served prison time in connection with a 2001 undercover drug sting at a Monroeville hotel.
