SAXONBURG — The case against a Clinton Township man charged with arming himself with a hunting rifle during an argument with his girlfriend is heading to trial.

The alleged incident occurred shortly before 11 p.m. June 5 at the defendant's home on Hidden Hill Road and caused the 53-year-old woman and her daughter to crawl out a second-story window onto a roof. No injuries were reported.

At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, District Judge Sue Haggerty ordered Robert W. Wargo, 65, held for court on charges of terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment.

He remains in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 bail.

Trooper Shaun Milkovich, the investigating officer, provided the lone testimony at the hearing. He recounted responding to a domestic dispute in progress involving a firearm, and finding the victim and her 17-year-old daughter on the roof.

Police made their way into the house and up the stairs, where they found the defendant in a bedroom. Milkovich said Wargo was intoxicated.

That bedroom, the trooper noted, is on the opposite side of the home from where the woman and girl climbed onto the rooftop. Once the home was secured, police assisted the two women back inside through the same window they used to flee.

The woman told police the altercation began on the first floor. She and Wargo got into an argument during a family gathering, and Wargo told them to leave.

The defendant allegedly grabbed a hunting rifle.

“At one point,” Milkovich testified, “it was related (that Wargo) went outside onto the back porch and shot (a rifle).”

The reported shot was fired into the ground.

But on cross-examination by defense attorney Kenneth Harris, the trooper acknowledged police found no evidence a gun had been fired on the property. Police found a hunting rifle in the front closet on the first floor.

Milkovich told Harris that the gun was not loaded and police found no ammunition around it or in the house. They also found no empty shell casings on the property.

“What did the victim relate to you (that) was said to her that made her feel threatened?” Harris asked the trooper.

“She stated that at the time, he made the comment, 'I might as well kill you,'” Milkovich replied.

When Wargo made the alleged threat, the victim recalled that she was upstairs and he was on the first floor at the base of the stairs holding the rifle.

“Did he have (the rifle) shouldered? Was he pointing it at her?” Harris asked.

“No,” Milkovich said. “She related it was not.”

The trooper, citing the woman's account, said there was no physical contact between the victim and defendant during the incident.

The girl, in speaking to police, also described Wargo as being “threatening” that night while holding the gun.

Following testimony, Harris argued the prosecution's case was based solely on hearsay evidence.

“There was literally no evidence to support these charges, other than the statements from people who aren't here testifying,” he said.

But prosecutor Amanda Scarpo, a county assistant district attorney, referred to case law based on a 2017 state Superior Court ruling that allows the prosecution to present only hearsay testimony at the preliminary hearing level to establish a prima facie case.

“I submit that we have done that here today,” she told Haggerty, who agreed.