He lends a hand, ends up in cuffs

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - A good Samaritan was arrested on a 2006 rape charge Friday after he stopped to help the victim of a car crash, authorities said.

Orian Paul Stadel, 30, of Bloomsburg, said he was driving when the car in front of him collided with a car pulling out from a side street.

"If I had been hit and someone saw the whole thing, clear, I'd want them to stay around," Stadel said. Neither woman in the crash was seriously hurt.

When police arrived, Stadel asked whether they needed a statement from him, Scott Township Police Chief Ray Klingler said. Stadel seemed nervous, and asked whether the accident would be in the newspaper, Klingler said.

When told that it might be, Stadel said, "I think I have a warrant out for me."

Klingler ran a check, found the warrant, and put Stadel in handcuffs.

"He didn't give us any trouble," Klingler said.

The rape charge dates to August. A woman said she had gone to bed with Stadel, but had told him that she was tired and did not want to have sex, according to court records.

Stadel later acknowledged having sex with the woman while she slept, according to police. The case was dismissed after the victim failed to appear at a preliminary hearing, but was recently refiled, and an arrest warrant was issued, authorities said.

Stadel said Friday that he hadn't know about the new warrant until it appeared in a newspaper Wednesday and someone called him about it.

His attorney called Berwick police on his behalf, then told him to call police to schedule an appointment for his arraignment, he said. He tried calling Friday, but the investigating officer wasn't in, Stadel said.

Stadel said he wasn't guilty of raping the woman, but declined to discuss the case further. His court date is set for Feb. 5.