East Vandergrift man ordered to trial in assault of girl at Westmoreland Mall

A Greensburg-area teenager tearfully testified Tuesday how a stranger grabbed her by the throat, picked her “off the floor” and threw her to the floor at Westmoreland Mall on Dec. 27 after she replied to an offhand comment he made about her appearance.

“After he made the comment to me as we were passing, I turned around and said, ‘Excuse me?’ Next thing I know, he grabs me by my throat with his right hand, picks me up off the floor and slams me to the ground,” the 17-year-old told Hempfield District Judge Tony Bompiani.

After listening to the girl’s testimony and that of another teenage witness, Bompiani ordered Tyler D. Zidek, 23, of East Vandergrift to stand trial for disorderly conduct, harassment, simple assault and strangulation in connection with the 6:45 p.m. assault in the Hempfield shopping complex.

The girl, under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Allen Powanda, said Zidek and two male juveniles who were with him ran from the scene “laughing” as she lay injured on the floor. The two teens who were with Zidek, although identified by police and interviewed, were not charged.

“Several people came running over to help me after they heard the sound when I hit the floor. I was stunned. … My whole left side and my head hurt,” she said.

The girl said paramedics from Mutual Aid Ambulance and state police were called to the scene. She was treated at the scene but not hospitalized.

The girl told Bompiani the pain in her left arm went away “after a few days.”

Zidek pleaded not guilty at the start of the hearing. He exited through a side door of Bompiani’s office to a waiting vehicle to avoid a reporter waiting outside the main entrance.

Zidek’s attorney, Ryan James of White Oak, declined to comment.

The girl testified she was walking on the lower level when three males passed and Zidek commented on her appearance.

On cross-examination, James asked the victim how she was certain the assailant was Zidek, who wore a protective mask covering a portion of his face during the court proceeding.

“It’s scary when a grown man comes right at you. He was an adult with two teenagers … you could tell he was just so much bigger than them … and he should have known I was under 18 years old, too,” the girl replied.

According to police reports, Zidek is 6 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds.

James also asked the girl whether she “slapped” Zidek during the incident.

“No,” she replied.

Her friend testified that the girl “was really upset” after Zidek made the derogatory comment and turned toward him to question him.

“(Zidek) reached out with his right hand, picked her up and threw her face first into the floor. They ran up toward the food court, out of the mall to their car and left. … I yelled at them as they ran,” the girl testified.

Trooper Nicholas Parker, who was not called to testify at Tuesday’s hearing, reported in court documents that he obtained a photograph of the suspects from a store security camera and released it to the news media Dec. 28. Police received 40 calls and, within a few hours, three of the tips positively identified all three suspects.

After the photos were released, Zidek called state police to report he was the man wearing the “red shirt” in the photograph, Parker wrote. When Zidek was interviewed at the state police barracks, he claimed “the victim attempted to punch him but fell to the ground.”

“Zidek denied throwing the victim on the ground,” Parker wrote in the report.

James asked Bompiani to dismiss the strangulation charge, noting there was no testimony that Zidek made an “intentional effort” to impede the girl’s breathing.

Bompiani dismissed the request and ordered Zidek stand trial on the four charges.

“There was plenty evidence presented here today for the case to proceed to trial,” Bompiani said.

Zidek, who formerly lived in Leechburg, Armstrong County, remains free on signature bond.