A hearing has been postponed against a Palmerton man who forced his way into another man's home and assaulted him with a baseball bat.

Joseph Zaffuto, 43, of Delaware Avenue, was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge William Kissner of Palmerton.The case has been continued until Feb. 25.Zaffuto faces charges on two counts of aggravated assault, as well as one count each of simple assault attempt, simple assault with a deadly weapon, harassment by physical contact and criminal trespass.He remains free under $75,000 unsecured bail, with the condition that he have no contact with the victim.According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Palmerton patrolman Kevin Buck:At 11:17 p.m. Dec. 2, Buck was dispatched to 10 Delaware Ave. Apt. 108 for a report of a man who had been assaulted by another man with a baseball bat.Buck spoke with the victim, who said that he was in the apartment with his girlfriend when he received a knock at the door.The victim looked through the peephole of the door and did not recognize the man at the door.As he opened the door slightly, the victim saw a man wearing a white bandanna over his face.The man forced his way into the apartment and struck him numerous times with an orange baseball bat.The victim identified the man as having gray hair that he saw when the hood he was wearing came partially off during the assault.He told police the man struck him with the bat several times in the rib area and punched him numerous times in the face.The victim had bruising in the rib area, as well as head and neck pain. Bruising was beginning to develop on his face.Upon the return of the apartment's tenant, another man described the suspect, who he said was most likely named Joe and lived along Delaware Avenue.Patrolman Michael Fedor responded to the area while the victim was transported to Palmerton Hospital.At the residence, Fedor made contact with a man matching that description. The man identified himself as Zaffuto, and said he had no knowledge of why police could be looking for him.Police found a white bandanna and the orange baseball bat in a vehicle owned by Zaffuto's girlfriend, who also lives on Delaware Avenue.Zaffuto's girlfriend told police she was upstairs sleeping with the kids while Zaffuto was downstairs, and she was unaware of anything he was doing or anywhere he may have gone.Once in custody, Zaffuto eventually admitted to police that he had gone to the apartment and assaulted the victim, but said he was looking for another man.He told police he was not proud of what he had done, but did it because of prior threats made to him by the other man in an incident earlier in the evening.Zaffuto did not give any details of the previous encounter.