Man attacks dentist to get dental care in hospital

A mentally ill Erie man said Tuesday in Erie County Court that he assaulted his dentist with a crowbar in December so he could be placed in prison and receive dental and other medical treatment he could no longer afford.

The Erie Times-News reports 30-year-old Philip Kienholz offered the explanation Tuesday when he was sentenced to 16 months to four years in state prison. The Erie man had pleaded guilty but mentally ill in September to charges of aggravated assault and possessing an instrument of crime.

President Judge Ernest J. DiSantis Jr. said Kienholz, who pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges of aggravated assault and possessing the instrument of a crime in September, must undergo mental health treatment while in prison.

He said Kienholz was not yet ready to be in an unsupervised setting.

"I think you are getting there," the judge said.

Kienholz had asked DiSantis to sentence him to five years of probation so he could continue to receive treatment in the community as part of his court supervision.

Kienholz's lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Maria Krupicz, said Kienholz has been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder. She praised the psychiatrists in the Erie County Prison who, she said, have discovered an effective "drug cocktail" to control his illness, which includes hallucinations when he is under stress.

Erie police say Kienholz cornered the dentist while he was treating a juvenile patient, then hit the doctor in the wrist with the tire iron before running away. At the time, police said Kienholz indicated he attacked the dentist because he was angry that the dentist wanted to prescribe antibiotics rather than pull an infected tooth.