Homeless Man Swings Ax at 2 Men: Police

Trial ordered in alleged ax threats in Pa. park

A homeless man has been ordered to stand trial on charges that he threatened two people with an ax in a Pennsylvania park, but some charges against him were dismissed.

An Allegheny County judge dismissed charges of aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation against 39-year-old Frederic Park during a preliminary hearing Monday.

But he ordered Park to trial on charges of recklessly endangering another person and simple assault. Prosecutors withdrew another aggravated assault count.

Two people told Pittsburgh police that the defendant swung an ax at them in separate incidents in June in Frick Park, where he had been living. No one was hurt.

One man, who is black, told police that Park, who is white, called him a racial slur before swinging the ax at him.

Frick Park is a large park located to the eastern park of Pittsburgh in between the Squirrel Hill and Regent Square neighborhoods.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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