Sean P. Quinlan, Esq. monogramSean P. Quinlan, Esq.

Criminal Defense · Assault & Violent Offenses

Assault charges in Pennsylvania.

Aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment, and disorderly conduct are graded on the same continuum — and a single night is often charged across more than one. This pillar maps every grade, the statutory maximums, and how these charges reduce into each other.

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Grading & sentencing ranges

Every assault grade, statute, and maximum.

Pennsylvania grades these four charges from a summary offense up to a first-degree felony. The table below is the statutory ceiling for each — the number the legislature wrote, not the number you actually face.

Aggravated Assault (§ 2702)

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. § 2702[1] [16]

Aggravated Assault (§ 2702): offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2702
Offense & gradingMaximum exposure[16]

Aggravated assault — F1 § 2702(a)(1)

Serious bodily injury caused or attempted. OGS 11 puts state time in the standard range.

Up to 20 years, $25,000[1]

Aggravated assault — F2 § 2702(a)(4)

Bodily injury with a deadly weapon. The deadly-weapon-used enhancement adds to the guideline range.

Up to 10 years, $25,000[1]

Assault on a listed victim — F2 § 2702(a)(3)

Police, firefighters, EMTs, teachers, and other enumerated occupations — charged even where injury is minimal.

Up to 10 years[1]

Simple Assault (§ 2701)

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. § 2701[2] [17]

Simple Assault (§ 2701): offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2701
Offense & gradingMaximum exposure[17]

Simple assault — M2 § 2701(b)

The standard grading.

Up to 2 years, $5,000[2]

Simple assault — M3 (mutual fight)

Where the fight was mutual — a common negotiated landing spot.

Up to 1 year, $2,500[2]

Simple assault — M1

Victim under 12 and defendant 18 or older.

Up to 5 years, $10,000[2]

Harassment & Stalking (§ 2709 / § 2709.1)

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2709, 2709.1[12] [13] [17]

Harassment & Stalking (§ 2709 / § 2709.1): offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2709, 2709.1
Offense & gradingMaximum exposure[17]

Harassment — summary § 2709(a)

Strike, shove, kick, or subject to unwanted physical contact; or repeated anonymous communication.

Up to 90 days, $300[12]

Harassment — M3 § 2709(a)(3)

Graded an M3 where the intent is to harass, annoy, or alarm and the conduct serves no legitimate purpose.

Up to 1 year, $2,500[12]

Stalking — M1 § 2709.1 (first offense)

Course of conduct placing another in reasonable fear of bodily injury.

Up to 5 years, $10,000[12]

Stalking — F3 § 2709.1(c)(2)

A second or subsequent stalking conviction, or a prior conviction for a crime of violence involving the same victim, family, or household.

Up to 7 years, $15,000[12]

Disorderly Conduct & Public Drunkenness

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 5503, 5505[14] [15]

Disorderly Conduct & Public Drunkenness: offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 5503, 5505
Offense & gradingMaximum exposure[15]

Disorderly conduct — summary § 5503

Tried before the magisterial district judge, usually within weeks.

Up to 90 days, $300[14]

Disorderly conduct — M3 § 5503(b)

Requires intent to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or persistence after a reasonable warning.

Up to 1 year, $2,500[14]

Public drunkenness — summary § 5505

No jail for a first offense, but a conviction on the record.

$500 first offense; $1,000 subsequent[14]

Terroristic Threats & Reckless Endangerment (§§ 2706, 2705)

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2706, 2705, 907[4] [5] [17]

Terroristic Threats & Reckless Endangerment (§§ 2706, 2705): offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2706, 2705, 907
Offense & gradingMaximum exposure[17]

Terroristic threats — M1 § 2706

A threat to commit a crime of violence with intent to terrorize. Words alone are enough; no contact or injury is required.

Up to 5 years, $10,000[4]

Terroristic threats — F3 § 2706(d)

Where the threat causes the diversion or evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation.

Up to 7 years, $15,000[4]

Recklessly endangering another person — M2 § 2705

Reckless conduct that places or may place another in danger of death or serious bodily injury — no injury required.

Up to 2 years, $5,000[4]

Possessing instruments of crime — M1 § 907

Frequently stacked on an assault count where a weapon or object was involved.

Up to 5 years, $10,000[4]

Robbery, Strangulation & Assault on Police (§§ 3701, 2718, 2702.1)

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3701, 2718, 2702.1[7] [6] [16]

Robbery, Strangulation & Assault on Police (§§ 3701, 2718, 2702.1): offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3701, 2718, 2702.1
Offense & gradingMaximum exposure[16]

Robbery — F1 § 3701(a)(1)(i)–(iii)

Serious bodily injury inflicted or threatened, or the threat of another first- or second-degree felony, during a theft.

Up to 20 years, $25,000[7]

Robbery — F2 § 3701(a)(1)(iv)

Bodily injury inflicted or threatened during a theft.

Up to 10 years, $25,000[7]

Robbery — F3 § 3701(a)(1)(v)

Taking property from another by force, however slight — the sudden-snatch grading.

Up to 7 years, $15,000[7]

Strangulation — M2 / F2 / F1 § 2718

Impeding breathing or circulation; F2 against a family or household member or under a protective order; F1 with a prior § 2718 conviction or use of an instrument of crime.

Up to 2, 10, or 20 years by grading[7]

Assault of a law enforcement officer — F1 § 2702.1

Discharging a firearm at an officer with intent to cause bodily injury while the officer is performing duties.

Up to 20 years, $25,000[7]

Maximums are statutory ceilings, not expected sentences. Actual outcomes depend on prior record score, offense gravity score, the deadly-weapon enhancement, and county practice. Grading is set by the offense statutes above; the sentencing ceilings are set by 18 Pa.C.S. § 1103[16] for felonies and 18 Pa.C.S. § 1104[17] for misdemeanors.

How these charges relate

One incident, six possible outcomes.

The same shoving match can be charged as aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment, or disorderly conduct — and the grade decides whether you face 20 years or a $300 fine. Prosecutors start high and negotiate down; defense work is about driving the grade toward the bottom of the ladder before sentencing is ever in play. Step through each rung below to see what has to happen and what it costs your record.

The reduction ladder

Aggravated assault (F1/F2) → simple assault (M2/M3) → harassment or disorderly conduct (summary) → withdrawal, dismissal, or ARD. Each step down removes a violent-offense label, shortens the record, and opens an expungement path.

Interactive reduction ladder

Step 1 of 6 — walk the grade down rung by rung.

F1 · Up to 20 years

Aggravated assault — § 2702(a)(1)

How a case lands here

Charged where the affidavit alleges serious bodily injury caused or attempted — a broken bone, a head injury, surgery, or a sustained beating.

What it means for your record

Offense gravity score 11 puts state incarceration in the standard range even with no prior record, and the conviction is a crime of violence for life.

Currently viewing: Aggravated assault — § 2702(a)(1). Grades and maximums are statutory ceilings — every case turns on the injury evidence, the complainant, and county practice.

Harassment & stalking in detail.

Harassment under § 2709 covers a strike, shove, kick, or other unwanted physical contact, and repeated anonymous or threatening communication — usually a summary offense graded up to an M3 where the conduct serves no legitimate purpose. It is the most common reduction target from a simple assault, because a summary conviction is expungeable after five clean years and carries no violent-crime label.

Stalking under § 2709.1 is graded far more seriously. A first offense is an M1 (up to 5 years). A second or subsequent stalking conviction — or a case where the actor has a prior conviction for a crime of violence involving the same victim, family, or household — is graded a felony of the third degree (up to 7 years). A stalking charge is not a summary nuisance; it is exposure that has to be defended that way.

The assault defense hub.

Each child page covers one charge in depth — the statute, the grading, the defenses, and the ARD and expungement options. Click into whichever matches your case.

Simple Assault

18 Pa.C.S. § 2701

M2/M3 grading, the bodily-injury element, self-defense under § 505, and the reduction ladder that keeps a violent-offense label off your record.

Read the guide

Aggravated Assault

18 Pa.C.S. § 2702

F1/F2 felony exposure, the 'serious bodily injury' element, and how the aggravated count collapses at the preliminary hearing.

Read the guide

Terroristic Threats

18 Pa.C.S. § 2706

A threat made in anger, over text, or during an argument can be charged as a felony — the intent and impact elements are where the case is won.

Read the guide

Reckless Endangerment

18 Pa.C.S. § 2705

REAP gets stacked onto car stops, gun cases, and arguments where no one was actually hurt — the danger element is where the case gets tested.

Read the guide

Robbery

18 Pa.C.S. § 3701

Robbery combines a theft with force or the threat of force, and Pennsylvania grades it as a felony ranging from F3 to F1 depending on what happened.

Read the guide

Strangulation

18 Pa.C.S. § 2718

Pennsylvania singled out strangulation out of aggravated assault in 2016, and it grades up fast based on relationship, prior record, and a protective order.

Read the guide

Assault on Police & First Responders

18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2702(a)(3), 2702.1

Assaulting an officer, EMT, or firefighter is charged as a felony in Pennsylvania even without serious injury — and the exposure jumps sharply if a firearm was involved.

Read the guide

Weapons-Related Assault Enhancements

18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2702(a)(4), 907; 204 Pa. Code § 303.10

Adding a weapon to an assault charge doesn't just add a separate count — it can raise the felony grade and push the sentencing guidelines into a different range entirely.

Read the guide

Disorderly Conduct

18 Pa.C.S. § 5503

Summary and M3 grading, public drunkenness, First Amendment defenses, and the five-year expungement.

Read the guide

Harassment & Stalking

§ 2709 and § 2709.1 grading, the summary-to-F1 ladder, and the expungement path — covered in full on this pillar above.

Jump to harassment

Assault charges, compared side by side.

Most assault questions are really comparison questions — which grade applies, whether words alone are a crime, and what changes when the parties live together. These guides answer them one pair at a time.

How we defend assault and harassment cases.

  • Self-defense and defense of others

    Pennsylvania's justification defense under § 505 is a complete defense. Once it is in evidence the Commonwealth must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt — and who escalated first is usually visible on video.

  • Litigate the injury element

    Simple assault needs 'bodily injury' and aggravated assault needs 'serious bodily injury.' Redness, soreness, and an ER visit and discharge routinely fall short — and failing the element collapses the grade.

  • Pull the objective record early

    Body camera, 911 audio, and hospital records usually contradict some part of the affidavit. They get overwritten, so we demand them before the preliminary hearing.

  • Test a reluctant complainant

    Many domestic-adjacent assaults are charged after a call the complainant regrets. The DA controls the case, but credibility problems drive reductions and withdrawals.

  • Negotiate the grading down

    Moving an M2 to an M3 mutual-fight grading, to disorderly conduct, or to harassment removes the violent-offense label that causes the real long-term damage.

  • Plan around firearms and collateral consequences

    Certain assault convictions and PFA orders trigger federal firearms prohibitions. We design the disposition around those consequences, not just the sentence.

Where we appear

Assault defense across Central Pennsylvania.

Attorney Quinlan appears in the magisterial district courts and Courts of Common Pleas in Dauphin, Cumberland, York, and Adams counties. Start with your city:

General criminal defense by city: Harrisburg · Camp Hill · Carlisle · York · Mechanicsburg · Hershey

Related: Pennsylvania criminal defense overview · PFA defense · ARD program.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Common questions about assault, harassment, and disorderly conduct charges in Pennsylvania — grading, penalties, reductions, and record consequences.

  • Harassment under § 2709 is unwanted physical contact (a strike, shove, or kick) or repeated communication meant to annoy or alarm — usually a summary offense. Simple assault under § 2701 requires bodily injury or an attempt to cause it and is a misdemeanor. Aggravated assault under § 2702 requires serious bodily injury caused or attempted, a deadly weapon, or an enumerated victim such as a police officer, and is a first- or second-degree felony. The same incident is often charged across more than one grade.

  • Yes. Harassment is one of the most valuable landing spots for an over-charged simple assault — a summary offense with no violent-crime label and a five-year expungement path. The reduction usually happens before or at the preliminary hearing, when the injury evidence falls short of 'bodily injury' or the complainant is reluctant.

  • No. Harassment under § 2709 is not graded as a violent offense — at most it is an M3. But stalking under § 2709.1 escalates quickly: a first offense is an M1 carrying up to 5 years, and a second or subsequent offense — or one where the actor has a prior crime-of-violence conviction involving the same victim, family, or household — is a third-degree felony carrying up to 7 years.

  • Yes. Even a summary harassment conviction produces a Pennsylvania State Police record that appears on background checks. A summary conviction is expungeable after five arrest-free years under § 9122(b)(3). If the charge is dismissed or withdrawn, the expungement is available immediately.

  • A first-degree felony aggravated assault carries a statutory maximum of 20 years and an offense gravity score that places state incarceration in the standard guideline range even for someone with no record. An F2 carries up to 10 years. Real outcomes depend heavily on the injury evidence and whether the count survives the preliminary hearing.

  • Almost never. ARD in Central Pennsylvania is reserved for non-violent first offenses. The realistic goals in a felony assault case are dismissal of the aggravated count, a reduction to a misdemeanor, or a county-sentence disposition with treatment conditions. First-offense simple assault is ARD-eligible in some counties where the injury is minor and the complainant is not opposed.

  • The charge appears on a Pennsylvania criminal record check as soon as it is filed, even before disposition. That is why we push for dispositions that are expungeable — withdrawal, dismissal, ARD, or a summary offense like disorderly conduct or harassment — rather than any misdemeanor or felony conviction.

  • In Pennsylvania the District Attorney owns the prosecution, not the complainant. A reluctant or non-cooperative complainant makes the case much harder to prove and often drives a withdrawal or reduction, but it does not end the case by itself.

Related pages

Sources & statutory citations

  1. [1]18 Pa.C.S. § 2702 — Aggravated assault — F1 for serious bodily injury caused or attempted; F2 for bodily injury with a deadly weapon or against an enumerated victim.
  2. [2]18 Pa.C.S. § 2701 — Simple assault — M2 generally; M3 for a mutual fight; M1 where the victim is under 12 and the actor is 18 or older.
  3. [3]18 Pa.C.S. § 2702.1 — Assault of law enforcement officer — F1 for discharging a firearm at a law enforcement officer with intent to cause bodily injury; § 2702.1 also covers enumerated public-safety victims.
  4. [4]18 Pa.C.S. § 2706 — Terroristic threats — M1 generally; F3 where the threat causes the diversion or evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation.
  5. [5]18 Pa.C.S. § 2705 — Recklessly endangering another person (REAP) — M2; recklessly engaging in conduct that places or may place another in danger of death or serious bodily injury.
  6. [6]18 Pa.C.S. § 2718 — Strangulation — M2 generally; F2 against a family or household member or where a protective order applies; F1 with a prior strangulation conviction or where the actor used an instrument of crime.
  7. [7]18 Pa.C.S. § 3701 — Robbery — F1 for serious bodily injury or the threat of a first- or second-degree felony; F2 for bodily injury inflicted or threatened; F3 for taking property from another by force however slight.
  8. [8]18 Pa.C.S. § 505 — Use of force in self-protection — justification defense; § 505(b)(2.1) contains Pennsylvania's no-duty-to-retreat ('stand your ground') provisions.
  9. [9]18 Pa.C.S. § 907 — Possessing instruments of crime — M1 for possessing an instrument of crime, or a weapon concealed, with intent to employ it criminally.
  10. [10]42 Pa.C.S. § 9714 — Sentences for second and subsequent offenses — 10-year mandatory minimum for a second conviction of a 'crime of violence,' which includes aggravated assault and robbery.
  11. [11]204 Pa. Code § 303.10 — Sentencing guidelines — deadly weapon enhancement (possessed and used matrices) raising the standard range where a deadly weapon was possessed or used during the offense.
  12. [12]18 Pa.C.S. § 2709 — Harassment — summary offense generally; graded higher for repeated or lewd communications.
  13. [13]18 Pa.C.S. § 2709.1 — Stalking — M1 first offense; F3 for a second or subsequent offense or with a prior crime of violence against the same victim.
  14. [14]18 Pa.C.S. § 5503 — Disorderly conduct — summary offense; M3 with intent to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or persistence after a reasonable warning.
  15. [15]18 Pa.C.S. § 5505 — Public drunkenness — summary offense; fine only, higher for subsequent offenses.
  16. [16]18 Pa.C.S. § 1103 — Sentences for felonies — F1 up to 20 years, F2 up to 10, F3 up to 7.
  17. [17]18 Pa.C.S. § 1104 — Sentences for misdemeanors — M1 up to 5, M2 up to 2, M3 up to 1.

Statutes are summarized for public reference. Confirm current text at palegis.us. This page is attorney advertising, not legal advice.

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