Upper Dublin Police Department. Photo by James Short.
Steven Douglas Litten, 44, of Bristol, faces multiple felony charges stemming from an incident in Upper Dublin Township, according to police.
On July 4, around 3:16 p.m., the Upper Dublin Police Department was dispatched to the parking lot of Beth Or Synagogue, located at 239 Welsh Road, for a report of an assault victim.
Upon arrival, police met with the victim, who stated that she owned a tree removal company, and one of her employees, Litten, was angry over not being paid immediately following a job, according to police documents.
The victim was sitting in the driver seat of her stationary vehicle, located at the synagogue, when Litten approached the driver side window, which was down. According to police, Litten produced a box cutter and threatened to slash her tires. During this time, the victim was on the phone with 911 when Litten forcibly removed the phone from her hand and threw it on the ground, according to police.
Litten then punched the victim in the face with a closed fist, causing injury, pulled her hair, and physically removed her from the vehicle, according to police. The victim’s husband attempted to intervene, and Litten responded by punching him the face as well, according to police, causing injury.
Following that incident, Litten again produced a box cutter and threatened to slash her tires if he did not receive his money, according to police.
Litten then proceeded to open the trunk of the victim's vehicle, removing chainsaws owned by the tree removal company. According to police, Litten then purposely struck the victim in the arm with one of the chainsaws, causing lacerations. The chainsaw was not running at the time. Litten removed a total of three chainsaws from the trunk before fleeing the area in a white Nissan Rogue.
The value of the chainsaws is approximately $1,938.
A witness at the scene who also works for the tree removal company provided a similar version of events to police.
Litten is facing felony charges of aggravated assault and robbery.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
