SUNBURY -- Two Northumberland County Prison inmates, including a 66-year-old man, are facing felony charges for beating up a fellow prisoner who had reportedly snitched on them.
Andrew Mensch, 21, of Shamokin, was attacked just hours after he was confined to the Sunbury jail for a parole violation on June 20, according to court documents.
His alleged assailants were Walter Edwin Hyde, 66, serving up to 15 months for tampering with public records on charges filed by Shamokin police, and Vincent Matteo, 24, of Coal Township, who is being held on drug charges.
Mensch said the pair beat him up because he was a witness against them in an unidentified case, court records said.
Both Hyde and Matteo admitted assaulting Mensch, Bower said.
Hyde allegedly said that he was in prison because Mensch lied. Matteo said he's facing a prison term because of Mensch's cooperation with police.
A surveillance camera inside the jail clearly showed the attack at the bottom of stairs in the left wing, court documents said.
Correction officers Richard Wright and Cody Derr said they witnessed the assault. Wright said he was kicked several times by Matteo trying to break up the altercation, court documents said.
Matteo and Hyde were each charged with felony riot, retaliation against a witness, simple assault, disorderly conduct and harassment. Both are being held in lieu of $20,000 cash bail and are scheduled to appear at an Aug. 6 preliminary hearing before District Judge Robert J. Bolton.
