Pennsylvania

Man Tries to Video Teen, Attacks Her in Bookstore Restroom: Police

A knife-wielding 19-year-old man tried to record a 14-year-old girl with his cellphone then bound her hands before her boyfriend's mother stopped the attack in a Pennsylvania bookstore restroom, police said.

Dustin Cornelius, of Richland, was in the Berks County jail Thursday on $25,000 bail awaiting a May 30 preliminary hearing on charges including unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and harassment.

The girl tells Spring Township police she saw Cornelius holding the phone over the stall she was using in the Barnes & Noble restroom at Broadcasting Square shopping center in Wyomissing on Tuesday night.

She says Cornelius then fondled her, pulled a knife and tied her hands behind her back with a zip tie after forcing her into an adjacent stall. Cornelius cut himself during the attack, bleeding all over the floor, police said. [[238427591, C]]

According to police, since the girl was taking a while, her boyfriend's mother came in to check on her.Cornelius ran away but was arrested a short time later. He had the knife, zip ties and a cellphone on him. 

Police added that doctors at Reading Hospital treated Cornelius for the laceration to his hand

Online court records don't list a defense attorney.

A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman said the company couldn't comment on the incident due to the ongoing investigation.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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