Man who threatened woman, child with knife sent to state prison

A Carbon County man who threatened a woman and her child with a knife was sentenced Monday to a state prison term after pleading guilty to two criminal counts.

Tyrone Nelson Mertz, 51, of Bowmanstown, was sentenced by Judge Steven R. Serfass to serve 18 to 36 months in a state correctional institution on a charge of terroristic threats and 12 to 24 months on a charge of recklessly endangering another person. The terms run concurrently.

State police at the Lehighton charged Mertz for an incident that occurred at 1:45 a.m. on March 11 in the 600 block of Oak Street in Bowmanstown. Police said he threatened a 51-year-old woman and an 11-year-old girl, both from Bowmanstown, with a large steak knife before fleeing the scene before the arrival of police. He was later picked up on warrants.

The police report indicated that Mertz entered a bedroom of the home and confronted the woman, who had her daughter with her. The woman told troopers Mertz said, “I’ll stab both of you.” The woman managed to flee the bedroom with the child and went to a neighbor’s home and called police.

Mertz told Serfass, “I apologize for what happened.”

He claimed he had been struck on the head a few days earlier and had a concussion, and before the incident he suffered a seizure.

Mertz asked for a county sentence, which Serfass denied.

The judge said, “These are serious charges. I took into consideration the effect on the victims and the public in determining a sentence.”

Serfass also noted Mertz has a prior criminal record. He is currently serving a one to 12 month prison term imposed in Lehigh County in May on a retail theft charge.

Serfass also ordered Mertz to get drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations and follow any recommendation for treatment, render a total of 200 hours of community service when paroled, pay court costs of about $1,000 and have no contact with the victims.