OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – A 27-year-old Oil City man waived his preliminary hearing on charges stemming from an incident where he gave police a false name and resisted arrest.

Court documents indicate 27-year-old David Allen Ritchey, of Oil City, waived the following charges for court on June 6:

– Possession of Controlled Substance, Misdemeanor (two counts)
– Use/Possession Of Drug Paraphernalia, Misdemeanor (two counts)
– False Identification To Law Enforcement Officer, Misdemeanor 3
– Resist Arrest/Other Law Enforce, Misdemeanor 2

This case has been transferred to the Venango County Court of Common Pleas.

Unable to post $25,000.00 cash bail, he remains lodged in the Venango County Jail.

Details of the case:

According to a criminal complaint, on May 22, Ptlm. Rosenberger and other officers from the Oil City Police Department, as well as agents from the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, traveled to a residence on Central Avenue in Oil City in an attempt to make contact with and take into custody a parole absconder.

Once at the residence, the officers made contact with the people within the residence, including a man who identified himself as Joseph Ritchey.

Through investigation and a photograph, Ptlm. Rosenberger and the other officers determined the man provided false identification. Ptlm. Ruditis informed the man, who was later identified as David Ritchey, that he was under arrest, and asked him to place his hands behind his back.

According to the complaint, at that time, rather than following the officers’ verbal commands, Ritchey lit a cigarette, began tensing up, and pushed back into Ptlm. Ruditis.

Ptlm. Ruditis, Chief Wenner, and Ptlm. Rosenberger then used hands-on force to place Ritchey on the floor and take him into custody as he continued to tense up.

Ritchey was then transported to the Oil City Police Department for further processing, as he was also found to have multiple outstanding warrants including being listed as a parole absconder.

Upon arrival at the Oil City Police Department, Ritchey was placed in a holding cell and a search incident to arrest was completed. During the search, Ritchey was found to be hiding near his genitals a plastic sandwich baggy containing suspected heroin and a second ziplock style baggie containing suspected crystal methamphetamine as well as his Pennsylvania identification card.