CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man charged with using his vehicle to drive into a Hyde Fire Co.’s utility truck will have his case added to the trial list.
That comes after a nearly four-hour long preliminary hearing Wednesday that ended with Magisterial District Judge James Hawkins ruling that charges including criminal attempt to commit homicide and aggravated assault will be held to court.
The judge heard from nine witnesses who recounted the events that unfolded at Gambler’s Raceway Park on July 1.
Earlier reports about the incident claimed that Richard Delisle broke a contract with the Hyde Fire Co. when he did not pay the fire compay $350 in cash at the beginning of the evening’s racing program.
The company was hired to provide fire and extracation services in the event of emergency at the track.
Ron Stiles, deputy fire chief for Hyde, examined a contract between Delisle and the fire company during the preliminary hearing and stated that the contract neither required payment in cash, nor did it require payment at the beginning of the night’s entertainment.
Stiles testified that on July 1, he was under the impression that the company was to be paid in cash when the group signed in to work, and he said the check from the previous week’s race was returned due to insufficient funds.
When Stiles spoke with Delisle and informed him that the fire company was leaving the event, he said Delisle got into his truck and hit Hyde Fire Co.’s utility truck four times — twice by backing into the driver’s side of the truck and twice by hitting the truck head-on.
The other witnesses who were there with the fire company gave similar accounts of the events.
A 14-year-old boy who was in Delisle’s truck for the first impact told a different story, however.
Although the volunteer firefighters said they heard Delisle and possibly Stiles swearing while arguing, the boy said he did not hear Delisle swear.
After Delisle hit the truck the first time, the boy said he re-entered the truck and said, “Shh … I didn’t see them back there. I did that on purpose.”
One witness who was scheduled to testify, Kirby Tucker, did not appear for the preliminary hearing. Hawkins said the witness would be charged with contempt of court for failing to appear.
“My assumption is Mr. Tucker no longer wasnts to be involved in this thing,” said Clearfield County District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr.
Hawkins noted that Tucker had been subpoenaed to appear Wednesday and did not, necessitating the contempt charge.
In total, Delisle faces five counts of criminal attempt to commit homicide, one count for each of the firefighters who were in the utility truck at the time of the incident. He also faces charges of aggravated assault, terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person.
Delisle’s attorney, John Sughrue, argued that there was “no evidence that [Delisle] was trying to kill somebody.”
“He had no realistic ability to kill someone by doing that,” Sughrue said, noting that Delise was driving an average-sized Dodge truck and the utility truck is a Ford F-450.
Sughrue also argued that the fire department chose to confront Delisle before the start of the final feature race of the night in an attempt to provoke him.
Shaw disagreed with all of the arguments.
“Whether he was physically able to kill them wasn’t the issue,” he said, noting that the charge requires the intent to kill but not necessarily the ability.
He also said, “Provocation isn’t a defense to any of these crimes.”
Delisle’s bail was also lowered from $50,000 straight to $25,000 straight.
“It’s clear that this activity and action was the result of an argument,” said Sughrue, of what he called incident-specific behavior.
Shaw disagreed, alluding to a similar situation in which he claimed Delisle was involved in Florida.
“I know that something happpened, and it was a similar type of conduct,” Shaw said, but noted that he did not have the specifics.
Delisle will remain in Clearfield County Jail until he can post bail or until he is sentenced.