Homeless man cites choking incident in 2022

MEDIA COURT – A homeless man accused of manslaughter in a fatal train crash in Philadelphia earlier this year pleaded guilty to strangulation in a separate case in Delaware County.

Chaz Wearing was sentenced Tuesday to 11.5 to 23 months in county jail as part of a plea agreement negotiated between Assistant District Attorney Dan Kerley and his defense attorney Joseph Malley.

Wearing, 40, was charged in August 2022 after the victim told Upper Darby police Officer Francis Connors that Wearing had just punched her in the face several times in the area of ​​Long Lane and Chestnut Street.

She said Wearing also choked her so hard that she gasped for air and nearly lost consciousness while telling her he was going to kill her.

An affidavit states that the victim suffered several fresh injuries to his face and neck. Wearing was quickly located at the corner of Ludlow and 69th Street and taken into custody.

He had also been charged with simple assault, terroristic threats and harassment, but those charges were dropped because of the guilty plea.

In addition to the prison sentence, Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Scanlon ordered Wearing to provide a DNA sample to state police and to have no contact with the victim. Wearing was given credit for time served from February 19 to 21, 2023, and from January 6, 2024 to June 18, 2024.

According to the Associated Press, Wearing was also allegedly involved in a fight with another man at a SEPTA station in Philadelphia in January, during which the other man fell onto the tracks and was struck by a train.

City police said an argument escalated into a fight and Wearing struck the man twice before he landed on the tracks. A train pulling into the station seconds later struck and killed the man, whose name was not released.

Wearing left the scene but was arrested at the next stop, police said. His trial in that case is scheduled for December.