Jan 16, 2017 2 min read

A Canonsburg man who failed to appear as a witness in a preliminary hearing for a case that prompted a standoff last November is in Washington County jail for allegedly slashing a woman during an incident early Saturday.

Devan Byrd, 20, of 520 Blaine Ave., is charged by borough police with aggravated and simple assault, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and harassment for allegedly cutting a 22-year-old woman in a confrontation outside her home in the 100 block of West College Street.

Police were called to the area about 2:45 a.m. for a report of four men fighting in the street. As an officer arrived, he saw a man wearing a black hooded shirt and carrying a black bookbag walking in the direction of North Central Avenue.

Police found the woman and a man outside the residence. She was bleeding from a deep laceration on her finger. She told police Byrd entered her home uninvited.

When she told Byrd he could not come in, he reportedly became upset and started yelling. She told him to leave.

The woman and her companion followed Byrd to the street to make sure he would leave and not return, police said. Byrd reportedly pulled out the pocketknife and swung it at the woman’s face. She was cut when she put up her hands to protect herself.

Byrd fled the area and was found a short time later three blocks away in a lot at Greenside Avenue and East Pike Street.

Byrd was supposed to testify Wednesday against four people suspected of robbing him Nov. 30 at his home when he lived in the 200 block of West College Street. The robbery prompted a standoff when the suspects refused to come out of a home on Smith Street.

Byrd was arraigned before District Judge Gary Havelka and placed in Washington County jail on $5,000 bond. He is scheduled for a Jan. 25 hearing before District Judge David Mark.