Felony assault charges upheld against former NP student

It started with a verbal argument regarding who would take a girl to the North Penn High School Winter Ball, segued into an alleged choking and ended with an 18-year-old headed to Montgomery County court for felony aggravated assault.

During a preliminary hearing Tuesday before District Judge Harold Borek in Lansdale, all charges against former North Penn senior Chidubem “Dubi” Eneanya, of the 1200 block of Scobee Drive, Upper Gwynedd, were held over for county arraignment March 9 at 9:30 a.m.

Eneanya faces judgment on a felony aggravated assault charge, as well as misdemeanor simple assault, misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and summary charges of harassment and disorderly conduct.

Eneanya was arrested and arraigned Dec. 7 before Borek and released on 10 percent of $25,000 bail.

Eneanya is accused of putting a 17-year-old classmate in a chokehold until that classmate lost consciousness. He then allegedly released the chokehold, causing the victim to fall face-first onto a hard tile floor.

The victim suffered a broken jaw in three places and a broken chin.

Under Pennsylvania law, a felony aggravated assault conviction carries a prison sentence between 10 and 20 years.

Eneanya was suspended from the district.

Eneanya’s lawyer, Peter Thomas, argued that Eneanya had no intention to harm the victim with a chokehold, and therefore the felony assault charge should be dropped.

Thomas said the injuries suffered by the victim were “not in enough of themselves to prove an aggravated assault charge.”

“Intent is not satisfied here based on the conduct here,” Thomas said. “There were no threats during, after or before. Dubi did not intend to cause serious bodily injury. The state needs to show reckless variety akin to malice.”

Thomas said actual intent of felony aggravated assault includes factors like the size of the victim, if the aggressor was restrained and if there was a use of weapons.

“You had two individuals in a high school setting, engaging in conduct that was ill-advised and foolhardy,” Thomas said. “It’s not unheard of for two boys in a high school setting interacting with one another.”

Thomas said Eneanya was not able to see the victim going unconscious, and the victim suffered injuries due to “the release of an ill-advised hold.”

“It’s not indicative that Dubem attempted to cause the harm he did to (the victim),” Thomas said.

Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Carfagno argued that the Commonwealth did prove that Eneanya caused serious bodily injury intentionally, knowingly or recklessly.

“Recklessness, in this case, is based on the fact that the defendant was choking the victim and he was unable to move his arms off his neck, as testified. The victim lost consciousness and fell to the ground,” Carfagno said.

“In addition, (the victim) testified the ground is hard tile and the defendant was aware of that. He was aware he was applying a lot of pressure to the neck and this was a possibility,” Carfagno said.

Borek, prior to holding over charges, said he was not unsympathetic to the circumstances.

“I think it’s a sad day for our high school when these events occur,” Borek said. “I don’t believe Mr. Eneanya intended to harm. I do, however, have problems getting beyond that there was a clear action to take a chokehold on a vital organ, the jugular, and cut off the air passage of the victim. The Commonwealth met the burden that the actor posed harm to a human life. I do believe he was reckless in he caused danger to a human life.”

Borek compared the incident to someone burning rubber in a parking lot and speeding away, only to hit someone walking out from between two parked cars.

“They never intended to do it, but it’s still a reckless act,” he said.

On Tuesday, the assault victim and two eyewitnesses testified the events occurring around 9:27 a.m. December 7 in the hallway between F-Pod and the senior cafeteria.

The victim testified that he had been interested in a couple of girls, and vice versa, in regard to a dance coming up at the school.

He said one of the girls told him that Eneanya was bringing up the issue of who was taking her to the dance, and he was bothering her about the possibility of the victim asking her to the dance.

The victim, a senior basketball player, said he walked up to Eneanya, who was standing with one eyewitness and another student, and told him how he felt.

“I saw Dubi and I said, ‘Get off my case. It’s none of your business.’ He then said, ‘What?’ and I said, ‘You heard what I said. I didn’t stutter.’”

The victim testified he walked away, and then felt Eneanya grab him in a choking manner around his neck, with the bicep and forearm of his right arm.

“I couldn’t breathe at all,” the victim said. “My body became weak. I became unconscious quickly and I must have fallen. I woke up sitting up and there was lots of blood coming out my right ear and mouth.”

The victim described the scene how it played out via surveillance photos provided as evidence.

He said he was rushed to Abington Hospital following the incident and underwent surgery that night.

For two weeks, he had his jaw wired shut. He was on a diet of soft foods for a total of six weeks following the incident.

In a cross examination, the victim testified that Eneanya did not threaten him in any way during their discussion. He said the chokehold was put on him after taking five steps away from Eneanya, and that he knew it was Eneanya because he heard his voice say something to him.

“I tried to grab his arm and pull away,” he said.

The victim said he told Eneanya he was having trouble breathing and that he was still on his feet when the hold was applied. He was not pushed or thrown to the ground, he said.

“I remember being grabbed and waking up on the ground,” he said. “When I work up, Eneanya was there with paper towels in his hand.”

He said he and Eneanya don’t have a friendship outside of school.

One witness who was talking with Eneanya prior to the incident testified that Eneanya made a statement because he saw the victim walking toward him.

“(The victim) heard it and started talking,” he said. “I couldn’t hear their words.”

He said the victim was angry about what was being said.

“It had to be a big deal because it upset him,” he said of the victim.

He said after the victim departed, Eneanya joked around and said he was going to “punch in his face” and “choke” him, and then Eneanya began to choke him.

“From what I could see, I couldn’t see (the victim) struggling. I turned around to say something to (a third witness) and (the victim) was on the ground,” he said. “I could tell he fell flat because his body was straight and his hands were to the side. I could see a lot of blood. I could tell it was from the way he fell.”

In a cross examination, the witness said no one exclaimed aloud to Eneanya that the victim couldn’t breathe or hold consciousness.

“He was very concerned; he was worried about him,” the witness said regarding Eneanya after the victim lost consciousness. “He stayed as long as he could to make sure he was OK.”

Carfagno said the witness made a statement at school on the day of the incident: “I’m guessing Dubi choked him too hard. He definitely collapsed. I could tell by the way he was lying on the ground.”

A second witness testified that she was walking behind Eneanya and the victim during the incident.

“(Eneanya) had his arm around (the victim’s) neck. I saw (the victim) fall,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what they were doing. It looked like horseplay.”

She said Eneanya let go of the victim and he fell straight over.  The victim didn’t move after he fell and she saw blood coming from his face and ear.

“Dubi didn’t walk away. He was pacing back and forth because he was worried,” she said.

According to Thomas, Eneanya does not attend North Penn High School, but is receiving home tutoring to fulfill graduation requirements by June.

He said Eneanya has initiated counseling to deal with the aftermath.