A man who attacked and robbed an elderly Ephrata woman was sentenced to 18 to 36 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty in Lancaster County Court.
Timothy Stallsworth, 41, was arrested along with his 18-year-old girlfriend, Melissa Hurst — who is the victim's granddaughter — shortly after the robbery in April 2007.
Bloody and bruised, the 88-year-old victim managed to hit a home alarm when she regained consciousness, alerting relatives and authorities.
Within hours, Stallsworth and Hurst were under arrest by Ephrata police Detective Brad Ortenzi.
"This is one of the most despicable things I've seen" in 35 years with the justice system, Judge Dennis Reinaker told Stallsworth.
Assistant District Attorney Todd Brown said a pretrial hearing was scheduled for Tuesday when Stallsworth decided to plead guilty to the charges of robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and conspiracy.
In return for Stallsworth's guilty plea, Brown said, prosecutors agreed with defense attorney Andrew Spade to drop an additional charge of attempted murder.
Last fall, the victim's testimony was videotaped in case she would not be available for trial because of her age and health issues.
Reinaker told Stallsworth he remembered the victim, Arlene Hertzog as "kind and sweet."
"How you could have done those things is beyond me," the judge said.
Stallsworth told Reinaker that he was "very remorseful for what happened."
His attorney reminded the judge that his client has "multiple mental health issues," and was agreeing to serve what very well may be a life prison sentence.
Reinaker said if it's the case, "then that's deserved."
Brown said because of Stallsworth was convicted of shooting at a policeman in 1997, he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 10 years in prison.
Mrs. Hertzog, a small woman wearing a dark blue flowered dress, white sweater and white prayer cap for the taping, testified that she had gone to bed shortly after 10 p.m. on April 21, but was not yet asleep when she heard Hurst call, "Grandma!"
She immediately recognized her granddaughter standing near the nightlight in the hallway and got out of bed. Using her walker, Mrs. Hertzog tried to follow after the young woman who had turned and was walking toward the kitchen.
Mrs. Hertzog said she made it out of her bedroom and into the hall and "just that quick someone grabbed me around the neck."
She never saw the person holding her tightly by the neck, Mrs. Hertzog said, and the attacker never spoke, just "twisted, twisted, twisted."
"I couldn't breathe, holler or anything," Mrs. Hertzog said at the time. "I thought this was it. I thought I was a goner. ... I passed out before I hit the floor."
Mrs. Hertzog told the judge during the hearing she lives alone and typically manages to get around by using a walker.
She couldn't fight back, Mrs. Hertzog told Spade, because she had to keep her hands on the walker.
When she awoke, Mrs. Hertzog said she was lying in the hallway.
"My neck hurt so bad," and when she touched it, Mrs. Hertzog said, "my hand was all bloody."
Unable to stand, Mrs. Hertzog said she crawled back to her bedroom and pushed an alarm button to alert her daughter who lives across the street. She came and summoned police.
By an odd coincidence, Stallsworth and Hurst were picked up by a West Earl Township police officer at about 1:30 a.m. on April 22 walking along Route 222 and taken to a motel along Route 30 East.
When Ephrata police identified the suspects and broadcast their description, the West Earl Township officer made the connection and led police to the motel, where Hurst and Stallsworth were taken into custody.
In addition to the loss of about $425, Mrs. Hertzog suffered severe bruises all over her body, along with a gash on the back of her head and a cut across her neck that required stitches.
Her one eye was swollen shut and she couldn't hear for a couple of weeks after the attack, Mrs. Hertzog said, and she spent two or three days in a hospital.
The case against Hurst, who is facing charges of aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and conspiracy, is still pending. She is represented by defense attorney Barry G. Goldman.
In 1997, Stallsworth was sentenced to 4 to 8 years in state prison for shooting at a policeman in Butler County.
In that case, according to an account in the Butler Eagle newspaper, Stallsworth barricaded himself inside his house, threatening to kill himself.
When police responded, Stallsworth repeatedly fired a .22-caliber rifle out the window, missing the police officers but hitting a house across the street.
No one was hurt and Stallsworth, who lived there with his wife and five children, eventually was taken into custody without further incident.
Staff writer Janet Kelley can be reached at jkelley@LNPnews.com or 481-6026.
