Published: November 10, 2008 09:52 pm      

Hearing set for lawyer accused of chaining girlfriend

SANKERTOWN — An Altoona defense lawyer faces a preliminary hearing Friday on charges that he chained his pregnant girlfriend to a couch and left her without a phone for hours at their Sankertown apartment in Cambria County.

Mark Stephen Zearfaus, 40, of the 100 block of Penn Avenue, was freed on $10,000 recognizance bond after he was arraigned Saturday.

State police alleged that Zearfaus and the woman got into a physical altercation around 10 a.m. Friday, when he allegedly hit her on her left arm and in the stomach and pelvic area.

The woman said that when Zearfaus returned a half-hour later, he had a 31-foot chain and two padlocks and told her he didn’t want her leaving the apartment, according to a police affidavit.

He placed one end of the chain around her left ankle, locked it with a padlock and then wrapped the other end around a couch and secured it with the second padlock before leaving the residence, the police alleged.

At 5:30 p.m., the woman was able to yell to a neighbor for help, and the neighbor was able to free her, the police said.

Zearfaus is charged with simple assault, false imprisonment and a summary harassment offense.

Zearfaus, who does legal work in several area counties, was suspended Monday by Blair County President Judge Jolene Kopriva from a position as a court-appointed conflicts lawyer in Blair County.

In that position, he represents clients when the public defender has a conflict of interest. He is paid a $5,000-a-year stipend with no fringe benefits.

Zearfaus, who did not return a call for comment, formerly was an assistant public defender in Blair County.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday before District Judge Charity Nileski.

Cambria County District Attorney Patrick Kiniry, who learned of the incident Monday morning, said, “We will work in cooperation with the state police to determine exactly what happened and the charges involved. We will issue a statement later.”