State police on Tuesday filed charges against two people accused of assaulting store security guards in two separate incidents.
A Derry Township man is accused of choking a security guard at a Hempfield discount store on Black Friday.
Guy Nicholas Hopkins, 26, of 1022 Pizza Barn Road, Derry Township, is charged with robbery, criminal conspiracy and retail theft for an incident at 4 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the Gabriel's store off Route 30, according to a criminal complaint.
Trooper John Dixon alleges Hopkins, who also has lived in Jeannette; his brother, Mason Hopkins, 25, who lists the Derry Township address as his residence; and Jessica Rainey, 26, of Blairsville, went to the store to steal merchandise in order to get money to purchase heroin.
Dixon reported that store security guards caught the trio attempting to remove merchandise from the store after they stuffed it into Rainey's purse.
Police allege that when a loss-prevention officer confronted Rainey on the sidewalk outside the store, Mason Hopkins attempted to push her past the guard. Police said when the officer again blocked Rainey's path and instructed her to return to the store, Guy Hopkins assaulted the officer.
"Guy Hopkins grabbed (the officer's) shirt and forcibly threw him off the sidewalk into the trafficway of the parking lot. Guy Hopkins then placed his hands on (the officer's) throat and choked him," Dixon said in the affidavit.
The officer broke free after striking Guy Hopkins several times. Mason Hopkins and Rainey fled into the parking lot.
The two men ran to the car. Rainey ran to the end of the parking lot, where she surrendered the merchandise to store officers before getting into the car.
Police allege the assault took place over two Polo-brand shirts with a retail value of $40.
Police identified Guy Hopkins after they traced the car registration to his mother. Rainey and Mason Hopkins have not been charged.
In an unrelated case, police allege Todd Michael Lewis, 33, of 32 Rear Jefferson Avenue, Greensburg, roughed up a loss-prevention officer while fleeing Home Depot in Hempfield on Oct. 24.
Police allege Lewis was stopped by the officer while attempting to steal eight indoor floodlights, worth about $40 each. Police allege Lewis shoved the officer into store shelving and ran into a waiting vehicle.
Trooper David McClintock said in an affidavit of probable cause that during the altercation Lewis dropped a cell phone that a Jeannette woman had loaned to him. Police were able to identify Lewis by tracing ownership of the phone and through video-surveillance footage taken at the store.
Guy Hopkins and Lewis each remain free on a signature bond. Both face preliminary hearings on Friday before Mansour.
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