(TNS) A Mahanoy City man charged with assaulting two borough police officers on Jan. 17 waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday.

Stephen J. Wilner, 32, of 730 E. Centre St., appeared before Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker, Shenandoah, on charges of four felony counts of aggravated assault, two felony counts of disarming a law enforcement officer and misdemeanor offenses of three counts of persistent disorderly conduct, two counts of simple assault and one count each of terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and resisting arrest as well as summary offenses of two counts of harassment and one count of disorderly conduct.Prosecutors dropped one felony count of aggravated assault and Wilner will now have to answer to the remaining charges in Schuylkill County Court.Wilner remains free after posting $25,000 straight cash bail, prosecutors said.Patrolman Thomas Rentschler charged Wilner after an incident that began when he was stopped by a resident in the 600 block of East Pine Street who reported a man in a hooded sweatshirt was walking west on East Pine Street intoxicated yelling and screaming.Rentschler said he located the man, later identified as Wilner, in the 500 block of East Pine Street, approached him and, after identifying himself as a police officer, asked if anything was wrong.Wilner, who was under the influence and appeared to have been crying, said his infant daughter had just died a few days prior. At that point, Rentschler said, Wilner put his head down and cried for a brief moment but then became very hostile and began to charge at him saying "shoot me, shoot me."Rentschler said he drew his weapon ordering Wilner to stop but he continued toward him saying "Shoot me" and "kill me already."Rentschler said Wilner then tried to grab his weapon but he side-stepped so the man could not make contact with him or the gun.Wilner continued to ignore commands to place his hands in the air and Rentschler said he approached the man from behind, holstered his weapon and tried to place him in handcuffs.Wilner spun around and a physical confrontation began with the man fighting and resisting, Rentschler said, adding that he was able to pull his stun gun and use it on Wilner, but the shock had no effect on him.As the struggle continued, Rentschler said, he again used the Taser weapon on Wilner, but the man only became more physical and hostile while still saying "shoot me, shoot me."Rentschler said he was able to get behind Wilner and use his elbow to hit the man in the head, causing him to go forward and hit his head and face on the sidewalk that appeared to daze him for a moment.Patrolman Charles Kovalewski arrived and used his stun gun on Wilner, but the weapon again appeared to have no effect. Rentschler said he was finally able to get Wilner's hands in handcuffs and Kovalewski and Mahanoy Township Police patrolman Shannon Tietsworth were able to secure his legs while he ignored commands and tried to kick the officers.Still disobeying commands, Rentschler said the three officers picked Wilner up and placed him in a police vehicle but while en route to the station, the man began screaming "kill me, kill me" and started hitting his head several times on the safety divider.Rentschler said he stopped the vehicle and the three officers were able to secure Wilner in the seat so he could not cause injuries to himself.At the station, officers tried to check the man for injuries but he again became aggressive, began screaming and tried to spit in Rentschler's face, police said.Wilner asked officers to "put a shot in his heart" and "put a bullet in his head."Mahanoy City EMS was called and Wilner was secured in a stretcher and taken to the hospital accompanied by Kovalewski.While en route to Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street, Rentschler said Wilner continued to be aggressive to Kovalewski and ambulance staff. At one point, Wilner tried to spit on Kovalewski to the point where he had to be restrained with a sheet over his mouth to prevent him from spitting, Rentschler said.Distributed by TribuneContent Agency LLC