Police hunt for stabbing suspect

Authorities are searching for a Windber man accused of stabbing a juvenile in one eye.

Paint Township police said Michael Edward Pittenger, 23, threw a knife that stabbed the boy in the right eye on Nov. 11 at a home on 21st Street.

The boy was treated at Windber Medical Center before being taken to a Pittsburgh hospital for emergency eye surgery, police said in a criminal complaint.

The boy lost 80 to 85 percent of his vision in the eye, police said.

Police said the boy told them he was afraid to come forward because Pittenger had said that if he did, he would dispose of the youth’s body in a Dumpster.

Pittenger also told the juvenile that he would come after him when he gets out of jail, police said.

Police did not disclose a motive for the assault.

Pittenger, of the 1000 block of Cambria Avenue, is charged with aggravated assault, intimidation of witnesses or victims, simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment.

An arrest warrant for Pittenger was issued last week.

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