Clarion County inmate accused of terroristic threats against guard

An inmate faces charges of terroristic threats after an incident at the Clarion County jail.

According to a criminal complaint filed by District Judge Timothy Schill’s office, Joseph Supnik was being held in lockdown on Feb. 19. A corrections officer was supervising Supnik’s allotted time out of his cell and a disagreement arose between Supnik and the guard on when Supnik’s allotted hour out of his cell had begun.

According to the complaint, when Supnik was asked to return to his cell at 10:45 a.m., Supnik said his time had started at 9:50 a.m. and the corrections officer said the hour had begun at 9:45 a.m.

Supnik refused to return to his cell and the corrections officer was forced to escort him back to his cell, the complaint said.

The officer in charge observed Supnik’s behavior on a monitor and responded to the incident, the complaint said.

Supnik began to make threats on the correction officer’s life and the lives of his family members, according to the complaint.

Later that same day, a second officer went to the block that houses Supnik and noticed water on the floor in front of his cell, the complaint said. Supnik claimed his toilet had overflowed, but when officers asked why he intentionally flooded his toilet Supnik began banging his head against a cell door window, spat on the window and urinated under his cell door.

Staff attempted to open Supnik’s cell door because he was pushing his call button and wouldn’t stop, the complaint said. When the door was opened and officers checked the call button, Supnik attempted to push past the staff members and into the common area.

The complaint said that Supnik was then moved to an intake cell until he calmed down.

Supnik faces charges of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another person. He remains in the Clarion County jail, unable to post $50,000 monetary bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 31 at 10:30 a.m. in front of Schill.