Updated 10:21 p.m. April 3 with comment from Bellefonte Area School Board’s president.
A Bellefonte Area School Board member was arrested after he was accused of striking his girlfriend in the face and shoving her out of a car during an argument on Wednesday evening in College Township.
Jack I. Bechdel II, 58, is charged with one misdemeanor count of simple assault and a summary count of physical harassment.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, the woman told State College police that Bechdel had driven her to Sheetz and began arguing with her about her drinking habits. Bechdel then allegedly reached across her, opened the passenger side door while the vehicle was in motion and pushed her out along Shiloh Road.
The woman said “her left ankle had been run over after being shoved out of the vehicle,” police wrote. She then got back in the vehicle and asked Bechdel to take her home.
When they arrived at her residence, the woman said, Bechdel “struck her on the side of her face with a backhand swing while his fist was closed because she wouldn’t get out of the vehicle,” according to the affidavit. Bechdel then shoved her out of the car and drove away, police wrote.
An officer observed that the woman “had noticeable bruising and swelling under her left eye along with blood on her hands,” according to the affidavit.
Bechdel was located at Lowe’s in Patton Township, where he was interviewed by a borough police officer. Bechdel admitted he struck the woman in the way she described, and said he only did so because she struck him on the side of his face and mouth while he was driving, according to the affidavit.
The officer wrote that he observed no signs of injury to Bechdel’s face. Bechdel said his front tooth was knocked loose, which the officer confirmed but noted that most of Bechdel’s teeth were rotted or missing.
Bechdel was also cited for driving with a suspended license.
He was arraigned on Thursday morning by District Judge Allen Sinclair and released on $10,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 9.
Bechdel, who declined comment when reached by email, was elected to the Bellefonte Area School Board in 2021 and is in the final year of his first term. He has filed to run for reelection in 2025.
School board President Jon Guizar said he had been unaware of the charges when reached be phone early Thursday afternoon. In an email on Thursday night, Guizar told StateCollege.com that Bechdel had since informed the board “about a personal matter involving law enforcement.”
“His situation did not involve the school district, the school board, or his service to the community,” Guizar wrote. “Mr. Bechdel has stated he will take a short time to reflect on the matter before making any further statements. That’s all we know for now.”
