BUTLER TWP — The suspect involved in a police standoff last month saw additional charges filed Thursday, the same day his attorney presented self-defense as a possibility.

Kenneth E. Snyder Jr., 38, of Butler Township, appeared for a preliminary hearing Thursday before District Judge Kevin O’Donnell. He has remained in Butler County Prison on $100,000 bond since his arrest March 26 at his home where he was accused of stabbing his friend, Justin Schnur.

Before the hearing, Assistant District Attorney J.P. Kolzer added four new charges, the most serious being one felony count of aggravated assault to an enumerated person, related to an alleged injury to a police officer.

O’Donnell later dismissed that felony charge, after listening to an argument presented by Snyder’s public defender, Jennifer Popovich.

“I would argue that was incidental contact (the officer) caused by using his foot to try and stop (Snyder) from spinning,” Popovich said.

Kolzer had presented Zelienople police officer Brett Myers to testify regarding the injury he said he suffered while Snyder resisted arrest on March 26. Myers is a member of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit that assisted in the arrest.

Myers said after hours of conflict, Snyder descended the steps from the second-story room he had barricaded himself in. He said Snyder pulled away from officers and resisted being handcuffed.

After about a five-minute struggle, Snyder began using his legs to spin himself around on his back while on the floor, Myers said, who placed his foot by Snyder’s body to stop him.

“He rolled his entire body weight onto my left foot and ankle, pinning it underneath him,” Myers said.

In the same breath as the dismissal, O’Donnell moved forward all other charges against Snyder, new and old. Those charges include felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of simple assault, terroristic threats and resisting arrest.

O’Donnell did so despite other issues Popovich presented with the prosecution’s case.

“This is a case that is going to rest largely on self-defense,” Popovich said.

During his testimony, Butler Township officer Justin Welton said Snyder gave him a reason for stabbing Schnur.

“(Schnur) ended up cutting (Snyder’s) thumb, so (Snyder) had to prove a point and stabbed him,” Welton said.

According to Welton, Snyder described Schnur as the initial aggressor, who attempted to rob him.

Snyder’s sister, Shawna Alben, in her testimony elaborated on her brother’s logic. Alben, a registered nurse, was called by family members to assess Schnur’s injuries.

“He just kept saying it was self-defense,” Alben said. “He said Mr. Schnur tried shoving it in his gut, so he shoved it into (Schnur’s).”

Butler Township Detective Sgt. David Fish provided testimony regarding the self-defense argument. He said after the stabbing, he interviewed Schnur about the alleged robbery and instigation.

“He denied it,” Fish said.

Testimony from Alben and Welton also shed new light on the incident that closed down the portion of Freeport Road around the home for more than three hours.

Alben said she arrived before police, and other family members were hoping she could convince Schnur to go to the hospital. She said when she arrived Schnur’s wounds were covered with bandages already.

“He had dried blood on him, but no active bleeding,” Alben said.

Alben said Schnur had a shallow stab wound to his chest, a wound to his hand and a wound to his thigh. She said the thigh wound was the deepest.

“I told him he needs to go to the hospital to have it checked out,” she said. “He kept saying no, he didn’t want to go.”

Alben said she could not confirm if her brother was hurt because he kept concealing his left hand, which may have been injured, in the crease of the couch.

She called 911 and requested an ambulance. When she did, dispatchers asked about the situation. She said her brother did not appear to be acting like himself, and she said she also told dispatchers “he was going to be defiant.”

According to Welton, he was the first officer to arrive at the scene. When he reached the top of the stairs, Snyder’s mother handed him a machete, which he believed she had been keeping from Snyder.

Welton said inside the room Snyder’s sisters were there between a wounded Schnur standing on one side of the room and Snyder sitting on a couch on the other side of the room. Schnur and the women were escorted downstairs, and Welton said he then tried to convince Snyder to do the same.

Welton said he saw only the handle of an apparent weapon in Snyder’s one hand, while his other hand was concealed in the crease of the couch. According to Welton, Snyder refused to acknowledge whether he had a weapon hidden in the couch and periodically would remove his hand to his lap.

“He would continually tuck it back down in,” Snyder said. “He was playing with us because he wanted us to shoot him and kill him.”

Welton said he eventually retreated down the stairs where the emergency services unit team members assisted in trying to coax Snyder down. Welton said during the standoff Snyder made many menacing comments.

According to Welton, Snyder threatened kill anyone who moved onto the stairs, including by dropping heavy objects on their heads.

“He said he made a concoction of oil and gasoline that he would throw on us and light us on fire,” Welton said.

Welton said that at one point Snyder threw water down the steps.

“He said the water was the warning, and the next would be oil,” Welton said.

Welton said he remembered Snyder making a phone call to someone during the standoff, and at one point saying he had a gun and planned to “shoot some Nazis.”

“One of the things he said was he hated all cops,” said Welton, recalling comments Snyder made before the phone call. “He referred to us as ‘stormtroopers’ and ‘Nazis.’”

According to cumulative testimony from the officers, a tear gas canister was deployed just before Snyder descended the stairs.

“(We) used 40mm rounds to blow out the windows and deploy (tear) gas,” Myers said.

Snyder was then escorted from the home into a cruiser in front of a crowd of people surrounding the scene.

Alben said while she was with him, she had encouraged her brother to get help before it reached that point. She said sometimes he encouraged Schnur to go to the hospital, and at other moments he laughed about the situation.

“He seemed like he would understand the severity of what happened,” Alben said. “But then, the next moment, he couldn’t grasp the severity of what was going on.”

Snyder is scheduled to appear for formal arraignment June 7 in Butler County Common Pleas Court.