He pulled a knife ‘and stared at it,’ police say. Now he’s in jail.

Police report conflicting accounts of a domestic altercation that led to assault charges against a Philipsburg man Saturday.

According to state police at Philipsburg, a trooper responded at about 2:30 p.m. to the 600 block of East Locust Street for a report of an active domestic incident. On arrival, the trooper reported speaking to Daniel J. McDiffitt, 27, who stated he had been in a verbal argument with a female resident.

At some point, McDiffitt’s mother confronted the woman as well, police said. McDiffitt allegedly stated that during the altercation, the woman punched his mother in the face.

McDiffitt said he then pulled a knife from his pocket and “stared at it,” police said, but never threatened anyone with it. He reportedly set the knife down and the woman had lunged at him, but he was able to push her away.

The mother reported confronting the woman when she was punched in the face several times, police said. She reportedly claimed McDiffitt had attempted to defend her and never saw him display a knife.

In an interview with the woman, police reported that she confirmed she and McDiffitt were involved in a verbal argument when his mother came into the room and “got in her face,” at which time she punched the mother. After the punch, she reported seeing McDiffitt pull a knife from his pocket, open and and point it at her in a threatening manner.

She said the mother took the knife from him, police said, after which he allegedly punched the woman several times before she could get away and call the police.

McDiffitt was arraigned Saturday before District Judge Thomas Jordan, court documents said, and charged with misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, simple assault and reckless endangerment. According to court documents, no charges have been filed against any of the other parties involved.

Straight monetary bail was set at $10,000 and he was taken to the Centre County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday.

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 12:16 PM with the headline "He pulled a knife ‘and stared at it,’ police say. Now he’s in jail.."