The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

July 5, 2012

Couple fight morning intruder in their home

Herald Staff Writer

HERMITAGE —

A Hermitage woman was stabbed in the head with a pair of scissors Wednesday morning when she fought with a burglar in her home, court documents said.

Tyler J. Fennell, 19, of 683 Fisher Hill St., Sharon, is accused of breaking into the Strechansky home at 832 Lyle Drive about 6 a.m. Wednesday to steal items and is now in jail for attempted murder and other charges.

When police arrived at the home, Patricia Johnson was outside and directed police into the garage and said her mother had been stabbed in the head.

Police said Penny Strechansky was lying on the garage floor and her husband Paul was holding a towel on her head to control the bleeding.

Her dog’s barking woke her up and she found a man, later identified as Fennell, in her kitchen near the door that leads into the garage, Strechansky told police.

She said they struggled and Fennell stabbed her in the head with what rescue workers determined was a pair of scissors.

When Paul Strechansky heard screaming, he ran out and saw his wife struggling with Fennell.

He grabbed Fennell, pinned him against the vehicle in the garage, and his wife tried to hit the intruder with different objects from the garage.

Fennell broke Strechansky’s grip and ran, heading  north toward Bartholomew Drive, police said.

Hermitage police released Fennell’s description and asked other departments to be on the lookout for him, noting he had left a shoe in the Strechanskys’ kitchen.

Several minutes later, someone called 911 and said a man matching Fennell’s description had stolen a golf cart from Avalon Country Club.

He drove the cart across one of the greens on the golf course, crashed it into a tree and ran west, the caller reported.

A short time later, off-duty Sharon patrolman Ryan Chmura saw Fennell on Hall Street and took him into custody on Fisher Hill near Hall.

Hermitage police took Fennell to their station and interviewed him about the incident.

Fennell admitted to entering the home through the rear sliding glass door to steal items and said he picked up a pair of scissors from the dining room table and then headed for the garage to look for things to steal from the vehicle parked inside.

Police said he admitted to being involved in a fight with the homeowners and may have “inadvertently” stabbed one of them.

Penny Strechansky was taken to the hospital at Sharon Regional Health System for treatment, police said.

A hospital spokeswoman Wednesday evening said she was not permitted to release any information about patients to the media.

Fennell was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Ronald E. Antos, Farrell, on charges of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and two counts of reckless endangerment.

In March, Fennell was charged in the July 2011 burglary of an occupied home on Hasenflu Drive, according to Herald files. He pleaded guilty to attempted theft and loitering and prowling at night and was put on 2 years’ probation.

Fennell also pleaded guilty to a harassment citation filed in August by Sharon police and an underage drinking charge in Sharpsville in 2011.

He was taken to Mercer County Jail after failing to post $100,000 bond and is set for a preliminary hearing next week.

All information about the incident was taken from court documents. Hermitage  police did not release any information about the case  Wednesday to The Herald.

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