Pennsylvania duo facing assault charges over ‘chaotic’ altercation allegedly involving ‘hurled bucket of urine’

A Pennsylvania man and woman are each facing assault charges after a neighborhood dispute over lawnmowing allegedly spiraled into urine-soaked violence.

The Coal Region Canary reports that Ruthie McMullen (57) and Ian Tran (37) were charged following an incident they describe as “chaotic” that took place on June 14 in Orwigsburg. As per the police report, the complainant is Malik Hogan, who said the incident began when Tran was mowing McMullen’s lawn and the mower blade sent a rock flying into her kitchen window.

Hogan told Tran to pick up the rock, and a “verbal dispute” began in which Tran called Hogan a “f–king f—–t” in an alleged homophobic outburst. McMullen is said to have then aggressively approached Hogan, who then splashed McMullen with water or oil to stop her in her tracks.

Both sides have their own version of the story

Hogan and his boyfriend, Noah Forker, headed inside and closed the door, but the report alleges McMullen and Tran tried to force it open. Then came the urine.

For reasons unknown, there was a bucket of Hogan’s urine on the porch. McMullen allegedly picked up the bucket and splashed Hogan with it, sending pee splattering onto him and the kitchen floor. Hogan also alleges that Tran hit him in the head with a mop and that McMullen entered their home, with their back door destroyed in the drama.

McMullen provided the cops with a slightly different version of the story. She says when the rock hit her window, Hogan demanded they come pick up their “f–king rock”. In this version of events, McMullen says things only escalated after Hogan threw oil on her, that Hogan punched her in the face, and that the back door was broken because Hogan had slammed it.

In a similarly pitched dispute, a delivery driver’s dispute with Taco Bell ended with a cash register hurled across the restaurant in an incident a witness said made “toddlers look well behaved.”

The report also noted that Hogan is facing a separate set of charges involving an altercation with his boyfriend, with both men having been jailed last month following a heated day-long argument with each other over who would get to sleep in a bed with their pet cat. That ended with Hogan being charged with simple assault and harassment, and Forker with felony aggravated assault and related offenses.

In the urine bucket case, McMullen and Tran are charged with misdemeanor counts of simple assault and criminal mischief and with summary counts of harassment. McMullen is additionally charged with summary criminal trespass. Preliminary hearings for both are scheduled for August 18.

In other Pennsylvania drama news, a man responded to his wife bringing up divorce with an excavator and demolished a “large chunk” of their house.