A Slateton man was so drunk when he was beaten by a solar panel installer working in his home that he could not explain his broken ribs and other injuries to the police before watching his home security video the next day.
When installer Matthew Eschelman pleaded guilty in Lehigh County Court on Wednesday, he admitted that even if he was intoxicated in the January 24, 2020 incident, he could not dispute the video footage, so his memory was hazy.
Reading Escelman, 27, will be sentenced to more than two years in prison in April. According to the terms of the plea agreement, his minimum sentence cannot exceed 12 months. He pleaded guilty before Judge Douglas G. Reichley on the charge of a simple assault without arguing about the theft charge.
The case started around midnight, and the police received a tip from a colleague of Escherman, and then went to the victim’s home in the 200 block of Hill Street. They found the man bleeding on the sofa.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa Cipoletti told the judge: “He looks like he is fighting.”
Court records stated that the man told the police that he did not know how he was injured and refused to seek medical attention. He told the police that three employees of Trinity Solar were installing solar panels in his home, and he recalled drinking with them most of the day.
However, the next day, he submitted a police report after watching the video from the home surveillance system. According to court records, the video showed Escelman pulling the homeowner from the kitchen to the living room, and then he and another installer threw the homeowner onto the sofa.
When Eschelman punched and kicked the homeowner, he also screamed and threatened to kill him. The video was captured. The police said that other employees tried several times to stop the attack.
At the end of the video, the homeowner is on the floor of the living room. Three employees drove back to the company’s office in Reading, and one of them called 911 to report the harassment.
The victim also told the police that he lacked tools worth $600 in his basement. They were later found in Escelman’s work van. His attorney Kate Smith said that Escherman admitted to taking the tools, but expressed suspicion that the tools were stolen, believing that the homeowner gave them to him.
The victim’s rib fractures, head injuries and contusions, several fractures, did not testify during the hearing, which was conducted through Zoom. When Escherman is sentenced, he will have the opportunity to speak to the judge.