Suspect Peter Donald Huff

Pennsylvania authorities have apprehended a suspect wanted in the assault of an elderly couple last week in Fairview.

Peter Donald Huff, 67, was taken into custody late Monday night after he crashed his pickup truck during a chase in Johnstown, Pa.

The U.S. Marshal Service initiated the pursuit around 9:40 p.m. Police said Huff had to be extricated from his truck after he crashed into a telephone pole and was taken to a hospital.

Buncombe County deputies said Friday that they have charged Huff, of Alum Bank, Pa., in assaults on his distant relatives Harold and Victoria Huff. The assaults were reported July 13.

Buncombe authorities released a photo and description of Huff on Monday seeking information about his whereabouts.

Briggs described him as 5 feet, 8 inches tall with white hair and weighing 140-150 pounds. He said Huff was driving a red 2007 Chevrolet truck with a Pennsylvania license plate and special white graphics on the sides.

Deputies responded to the home of Harold and Victoria Huff, both in their 80s, on Knollwood Drive the afternoon of July 13 after Harold Huff drove his vehicle to a neighbor's home to summon help. A sheriff's office spokesman said a sledgehammer was used in the assault and the couple's telephone had been ripped from the wall.

Peter Huff is apparently a great-nephew of the couple, Briggs said. He said Peter Huff has an extensive criminal record and was paroled on a bank robbery charge in 2007.

Peter Huff's home is in a rural area outside of Bedford, Pa., in the south central part of the state. Three detectives spent much of Friday and Saturday in the area gathering evidence and making contact with law enforcement agencies there, Briggs said.

They visited Huff's home and found that, “He's packed his stuff up and is on the run,” Briggs said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at 250-6670.

(From Buncombe Sheriff's Dept. & Asheville Citizen-Times)