Harmar fight leaves 1 elderly man hospitalized, another facing felony charges

Harmar police say a fight between two senior citizens ended with one in a hospital intensive care unit and the other facing felony charges.

Robert Schmidt, 76, of Springdale Township is accused of repeatedly punching a man and then stomping on his head because the victim allegedly made inappropriate comments to Schmidt’s daughter.

Police described the victim as around 80 years old.

Schmidt is charged with felony aggravated assault in connection with the April 2 altercation at the Giant Eagle Express in Harmar.

The victim made Schmidt’s 18-year-old daughter feel uncomfortable while speaking with her in the grocery store as Schmidt used the store’s restroom, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

Police said Schmidt told them that, after a previous incident in which the victim allegedly spoke inappropriately to his daughter, he had warned the man not to speak that way to her again, the complaint said. The complaint does not say what the man said to Schmidt’s daughter.

After his daughter told Schmidt what the victim said, Schmidt confronted the man in the parking lot, throwing two punches and shoving the man to the ground, according to the complaint.

The complaint said Schmidt then stomped on the man’s head, which appeared to cause the man to lose consciousness, according to store security video reviewed by police. Schmidt then stomped on the man’s head a second time, police said.

When police arrived, a witness told one officer that Schmidt had “pounded the (expletive) out of” the victim. The officer said Schmidt, hearing the witness’s description, “nodded in the affirmative,” according to the complaint.

The man remained unconscious as first responders cared for him, and he was taken to UPMC Presbyterian hospital’s neuro intensive care unit, the complaint said.

Harmar police Chief Jason Domaratz said the victim is “responsive” but remained in the ICU on Wednesday.

Schmidt’s preliminary hearing is set for April 22 before District Judge Michael Girardi. He was released on an unsecured $100,000 bond prior to his hearing.