ATLAS - An Atlas man who was reportedly using bath salts and prescription drugs when he shot holes in his home in September was arraigned Friday and committed to Northumberland County Prison.
Benjamin J. McDonald, 46, of 497 W. Saylor St., was charged with false alarms, possessing instruments of crime, recklessly endangering another person and false reports to law enforcements. The charges were filed by Mount Carmel Township Police Patrolman Matthew Filarski.
According to court documents, Filarski was dispatched to a possible burglary in progress at 8:01 p.m. Sept. 8, in which there was supposedly an unknown amount of people inside McDonald's mobile home threatening to kill him.
McDonald allowed Filarski in, and the officer said he observed a 12-gauge shotgun 3 feet from the doorway. He was assisted by Mount Carmel Patrolman Dave Donkochik and Patrolman Cade Holden in searching the residence, and they found no other individuals. Also, there were no signs of forced entry. However, police said the house was in complete disarray, with items thrown around the living room, bathroom and bedroom. They also found a .22-caliber Mossberg rifle and another 12-gauge shotgun in the bathroom.
Police said the shotgun was found with blue wire wrapped around the stock, the trigger and the door handle so that "if someone had opened the door, the shotgun would fire a round into the door area." The wire had been cut before officers arrived.
Police said McDonald punched holes in the bathroom wall with the barrel of the shotgun so he could "see individuals" in his house. They also found three exit holes from shotgun rounds on a wall of the home. Another set of homes, at 491-493 W. Saylor St., are approximately 25 feet from McDonald's house, police said.
McDonald told police people were stealing from him for a long time, so he locked himself in the bathroom where he could hear them.
He also told police he had shot three shotgun rounds at these people.
McDonald was also observed with black electrical tape around his leg. He told police he used it to attach a knife to his leg in case he was attacked in his sleep.
Witnesses told police they saw the man walking around the residence with a gun, police said.
On Sept. 22, McDonald was interviewed again, and admitted he was using bath salts, as well as prescribed Oxycontin, Percocet, Klonopin and Prozac on the day in question. McDonald was jailed in lieu of $20,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled today before Magisterial District Judge Hugh A. Jones, Mount Carmel.