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Roaring Spring man pleads guilty

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Roaring Spring man has opted to address criminal charges in two assault cases with a guilty plea and consent to mental health treatment.

Brian W. Dick, 50, recently pleaded guilty in Blair County Court to aggravated assault of a county prison guard in September 2020 and not guilty by reason of mental illness to assaulting a state trooper in May 2020.

Judge Jackie Bernard accepted Dick’s negotiated plea presented in court by Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky and Assistant Public Defender Julia Burke.

Burke said Dick has already spent one year and three months in Blair County Prison so he is beyond the minimum jail time in the one- to two-year prison sentence portion of the negotiated plea.

Efforts are ongoing, Elensky said, to arrange for Dick to enter a secure mental health treatment at a residential facility.

Bernard, who accepted the proposed arrangements, said Dick won’t be eligible for parole until he completes mental health treatment. He also must comply with mental health follow-up recommendations during the five years of probation to follow his one-to-two year prison sentence, Bernard said.

State police at Hollidaysburg arrested Dick in late May 2020 at his Roaring Spring residence. The troopers went to his residence after being advised that Dick wanted to harm himself. During their intervention, charges indicate that Dick punched a trooper in the nose.

In mid-September 2020 while incarcerated at the county prison, Hollidaysburg police investigated a report of Dick punching a corrections officer. The incident allegedly happened when the officer directed Dick back into his cell because Dick had become agitated. Borough police said that prison video confirmed the assault.

Dick has one additional case pending in county court. He is also accused, in June 2020, of throwing a cup of urine in the face of a fellow inmate. For that, he was charged with aggravated harassment by prisoner.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.

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