HOLLIDAYSBURG — A 19-year-old Altoona man was sentenced Tuesday to five years’ probation after pleading guilty to two counts of simple assault and four counts of reckless endangerment to address a 2022 incident where he accelerated his truck toward a man and struck him while putting others in danger.

Kyle M. Kimberling, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident on the 1900 block of Logan Avenue, was initially charged in adult court with two felony counts of aggravated assault. The man he struck was pushed over the hood of a nearby vehicle with a 4-day-old baby inside. Investigating police officers said the man’s shoe was found in the front tire wheel well, stuck on the mud flap.

Blair County Senior Judge Jolene G. Kopriva, who accepted Kimberling’s pleas to the six misdemeanors, encouraged him to use his experience as a valuable lesson.

“Keeping yourself out of drama is important,” Kopriva said. “Things could have been much, much worse.”

Altoona police, who filed the charges, said Kimberling and the victim were familiar with each other and engaged in an ongoing argument at the time.

Defense attorney Thomas M. Dickey, who initially sought to transfer Kimberling’s charges to juvenile court, said he was satisfied with addressing the case in adult court with the probationary sentence that could end early if 2.5 years pass without further incident.

“He was in high school when this occurred,” Dickey said. “Since then, he’s graduated. … He has great ambitions. He doesn’t want this to affect his job opportunities.”

Assistant District Attorney Julia Wilt advised Kopriva that of the four victims identified in the case, two of them agreed with the negotiated plea. The other two — including the man he struck and who was transported to UPMC Altoona for treatment of a leg injury — were unable to be reached, Wilt said, and did not respond to subpoenas to attend Tuesday’s court proceeding.

At Wilt’s request, Kopriva imposed a provision in Kimberling’s sentence order, barring him from having contact with either of the victims that the DA’s office didn’t reach.

The negotiated plea also addressed a misdemeanor charge filed in late 2024, when Kimberling was accused of making a false statement on a form to purchase a hunting rifle. Police said Kimberling told them he didn’t understand the question as to whether he was under indictment for a felony or crime where punishment could result in up to a year in prison, so he answered no.

Kimberling’s 2022 criminal charges that were pending at the time of his attempted purchase.

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