Delaware County Daily Times/1973/7 Persons Face Riot Charges

7 Persons Face Riot Charges

Middletown, Pennsylvania — Seven persons, including six members of a Glen Riddle family, face a preliminary hearing on riot charges stemming from a donnybrook that left one State Policeman hospitalized with an eye injury. State police at the Wawa barracks said Richard and Rachel Hammelbacher, their four sons and a girl who lives with them, all of the 200 block Highland Avenue, are scheduled for a hearing at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday before District Justice of the Peace Paul Ewaka. They said troopers sent to the home to investigate reports of a family disturbance early Sunday morning were pelted with rocks and radioed for assistance. When another patrol car bearing two more troopers arrived, a melee erupted that left three troopers and several. of the Hammelbachers injured, they said. Trooper Randolph Martin, admitted to Philadelphia's Jefferson Hospital after being transferred from Riddle Hospital is in danger of the sight in one eye after being struck by a large rock, State Police said. Police from Upper and Lower Chichester, Bethel and Aston eventually were called in to help troopers quell the disturbance. Hammelbacher, 51, and his son John, 20, were charged at the scene with multiple offenses, including riot, assault and battery on a police officer and disorderly conduct. On Monday troopers served warrants on the same charges against Mrs. Hammelbacher, 43, her sons, Richard Jr., 22, Steven, 19, and Alex, 18, and Jennifer L. Jones, 19, of the Highland Avenue address. The elder Hammelbacher and his son John were treated at Riddle for cuts and abrasions. Another son, Robert, 15, was admitted Sunday morning with scalp cuts and a concussion and discharged Monday.