Westmoreland County Prison inmate accused of making threats against female guard

Paul Peirce, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
·2 min read

Feb. 26—An inmate at the Westmoreland County Prison awaiting a hearing on assault and strangulation charges was arrested Friday on charges of threatening to sexually assault a female guard at the prison, according to court documents.

Nicholas J. Grindle, 33, of Jeannette, was arraigned on charges of aggravated assault, harassment and terroristic threats filed by county detectives in connection with an incident 1:45 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Hempfield jail.

Grindle was arrested Feb. 13 by Jeannette police on charges of harassment, reckless endangerment, simple assault and strangulation after they allege he choked and physically assaulted a woman.

Since his arrest, Grindle also was charged with two counts of attempting to intimidate a witness in the case and one count of stalking, according to court documents.

According to the most recent charges, Grindle was in his cell the afternoon of Feb. 21 and began yelling threats to harm a female guard in his unit, according to county Det. James Williams.

"I'll tie you up ... rape isn't beneath me," Williams quoted Grindle as yelling to the guard.

Williams also said Grindle told the guard that if he saw her on the street "I'm going to stab you."

Williams said in court documents the female guard believes her safety was jeopardized by the multiple threats.

Williams said the guard believes the threats "have placed her in harm's way of serious bodily injury and (Grindle) is capable of carrying out the threats" based on the pending criminal charges against him.

Two male co-workers of the woman also heard the threats, Williams said in court documents.

Grindle's previous $10,000 bond was revoked Friday and increased to $110,000. His new preliminary hearing date is March 5, according to online court records.

He did not have an attorney listed in court documents.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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