Pottsville police said Tuesday that they will file charges against a city man after he fired a pellet gun several times in the city Sunday, prompting calls from worried residents.
Police Capt. Richard Wojciechowsky said Tuesday that a charge of disorderly conduct will be filed against Anthony Iacovitti, 40, through the office of Magisterial District Judge James K. Reiley, Pottsville. Wojciechowsky did not say when the charge would be filed.
The incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday when police from Pottsville and other municipalities responded to reports of a man on a city roof with a "long gun" and shots being fired.
Witness directed officers to Division Street, where they found Iacovitti at 2 N. Third St. Police ordered him to get off the roof and Iacovitti did so without incident but was arrested.
No one was hurt, police said.
Iacovitti said his son asked if they could shoot BBs off in practice. His son, a juvenile, was on the roof with him but is not a suspect.
"This one looked and sounded like a real firearm," Wojciechowsky said about the gun, which police initially identified as a "battery-operated MP5 replica outfitted with scope and collapsible stock."
Iacovitti said he didn't plan to fight the impending charges.
"It is pointless to fight them. If I were to fight them, I wouldn't be taking responsibility," he said.
He said he will not fire the gun from the roof again. Of the incident, he said, "It could have been a lot worse. Myself and my son could have been shot."