Albrightsville man admits assault and resisting arrest charges

An Albrightsville man admitted to simple assault and resisting arrest charges on Monday afternoon in Carbon County court and was sentenced to a prison term.

Stephen Abendschein, 53, was arrested on Nov. 3, 2019, at a residence along Spencer Lane in Penn Forest Township. In exchange for the plea, the district attorney’s office dropped charges of aggravated assault; flight to avoid apprehension, trial or punishment; simple assault; and harassment.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by trooper Joseph Richards of the Fern Ridge barracks:

At 12:05 p.m. Nov. 3, state police were dispatched for the report of a domestic in progress.

There, Richards saw Lehighton EMS at the scene treating the victim. Kidder Township police had Abendschein in custody.

Kidder police said that when they arrived on scene, the victim was hiding under the dashboard of her vehicle in the driver seat, while Abendschein was in his residence.

Kidder police said that Abendschein walked out of the front door and attempted to avoid arrest by fleeing to the south side of his residence. Kidder police said that a struggle ensued between the officers and Abendschein, ultimately leading to the Kidder police officers deploying their Taser.

Abendschein told police he should not be under arrest because he didn’t do anything wrong. Abendschein said that the victim had been living with him for three days and that she showed up on his property two hours before the incident and was trying to get into his house.

Abendschein said that he did not hit the victim but there was blood on his right hand.

Richards interviewed the victim at the scene while she was being treated by Lehighton EMS for a cut to her left forehead and blood on her face. The victim said that she was at Abendschein’s residence and was trying to leave. A struggle ensued and Abendschein struck her in the face with a closed fist multiple times.

The victim said she was able to get away from Abendschein by running to her truck and locking herself inside it and calling 911.

Abendschein apologized for his actions and told Serfass he had family issues at the time which influenced his actions, noting the death in his family.

Serfass sentenced Abendschein to serve 6 to one day less 24 months in prison, get a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, have no contact with the victim, render a total of 200 hours of community service when paroled, pay court costs of about $1,000 and pay a $50 monthly supervision fee while on parole.

Abendschein, who has been in prison since his arrest, was given credit for 72 days already served.