An Altoona man faces felony assault charges after police said he tried to run over his wife and 6-month-old child with his car.
Joseph F. Weakland, 33, of 4121 Lynndale Road was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon by Altoona police on the 300 block of Howard Avenue after an argument between the couple culminated with Weakland allegedly putting the car in reverse and backing the car up in an attempt to strike his wife, who was holding the baby.
Police said Weakland, his wife and the child were in the car at about 3:30 p.m. when the wife asked Weakland to pull into the parking lot of FeFi's Grocery because she was tired of arguing. The two struggled over the child as the wife tried to take the infant from the car seat, and once the wife had the infant, she walked to the rear of the car to retrieve several bags of groceries from the trunk, according to Weakland's arrest papers.
Police said Weakland accelerated the car quickly in reverse, and the wife told officers she had to jump back. Another witness at the scene, who was not connected to the incident, told police had Weakland's wife not jumped back, she and the baby would have been struck.
Weakland faces aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child charges. He remains free on $25,000 unsecured bond and is due to appear in Central Court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
