Man accused of stabbing clerk receives sentence

The victim has recovered from her injuries.

By LAURE CIOFFI

VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A man accused of stabbing a dry cleaning clerk pleaded guilty to a lesser charge to avoid trial.

Brett Klingensmith, 28, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison after pleading guilty to felony robbery before Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge J. Craig Cox. Klingensmith also pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint and was given five years of probation to follow his prison term.

He had faced charges of criminal attempt at homicide, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person. Those charges were dismissed as part of the plea arrangement.

New Castle Police arrested Klingensmith after the Sept. 7, 2006, robbery at Nor-Ric Dry Cleaners on Butler Avenue. Police said Klingensmith went into the business and tried to force the female clerk into a back room. She fought back and was stabbed in the neck.

Assistant District Attorney Luanne Parkonen said the victim has recovered physically but did not want to participate in a trial. The woman wrote a letter to the court concerning her attack and the plea agreement, but it was not read aloud in court.

Already in prison

Klingensmith will likely not start serving his term of imprisonment for at least a year because he is currently incarcerated on an 18 month-to-5 year sentence for an unrelated theft, according to his attorney Chief Public Defender Harry O. Falls.

Falls told the judge before sentencing that Klingensmith was placed in a facility for juvenile offenders at age 16 and went directly to adult prison at 18 years old where he spent six or seven years. Falls did not say why Klingensmith was incarcerated, but indicated he has a drug and alcohol problem.

“When he is sober, he does fine. When he relapses, he’s in trouble again,” Falls said.

Klingensmith told the judge he did not intend to harm anyone, he was only trying to rob the business.

“Well, you did,” Judge Cox said. “And from looking at your prior record, you are a threat to society.”

Klingensmith was ordered to have no contact with the victim or enter the dry cleaning business and was told to repay the $137.78 taken in the robbery.

cioffi@vindy.com