Man jailed for break-in, assault of disabled man

NORRISTOWN » A Philadelphia man was sent to jail in connection with his role in a break-in at the home of a disabled Hatfield man who was assaulted during an ensuing robbery.

James Lieng Te, 37, of the 200 block of Kenilworth Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to nine to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to charges of criminal trespass and simple assault in connection with the December 2016 incident at a residence in the 500 block of South Main Street in Hatfield.

Judge Todd D. Eisenberg also ordered Te to complete four years’ probation following parole, meaning Te will be under court supervision for about six years. Te, who is eligible for the jail’s work release program during his incarceration, also must pay $691 in restitution in connection with the crime, the judge said.

The judge ordered Te, who knew the victim, to have no contact with the victim as a condition of the sentence.

An investigation began about 10:18 p.m. Dec. 10, 2016, when Hatfield Township police responded to the South Main Street home for a report of someone yelling for help. Upon arrival, police encountered a male resident “bleeding profusely from his nose,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Hatfield Detective Sgt. John A. Ciarlello.

The victim, who police described as disabled and walking with a cane, told police when he arrived home and entered his darkened apartment he was assaulted and robbed by three men who had been waiting inside the residence.

The victim told detectives he recognized one of the men as Te, a former friend and co-worker with whom he had a previous falling out.

The victim swung his cane at one of the intruders to defend himself but fell backward onto the floor, according to the criminal complaint. Te, according to the victim’s statement to police, punched the victim in the face while the victim was lying on the floor defenseless, detectives alleged.

Te, according to court papers, ordered the victim to empty his pockets and the victim surrendered his wallet, which Te ordered one of the other unidentified intruders to go through, detectives alleged. The victim told detectives Te displayed the handle of a black handgun he had in his waistband during the incident, according to court papers.

The three intruders then left the residence with $300 cash and the SIM card to the victim’s cellphone, “so he could not call for help,” detectives alleged.

“Te also told (the victim) that if he told anyone what happened he would come back and kill him and that if he was in jail the other two guys he was with would come back and ‘finish it,’” Ciarlello alleged in the arrest affidavit.

The victim told detectives that the other two unidentified men who accompanied Te did not hit him during the incident but both threatened him.