dme court

CHICORA — A Center Township man accused of shooting at a group of young men, including two teens, who were driving by his home had 11 criminal counts added to his charges at a Tuesday, Jan. 13, preliminary hearing.

During a hearing before District Judge Lewis Stoughton, assistant district attorney Zoe Kecskemethy played a recording of the 911 call Bryan Lee Presco, 67, made during the incident.

Bystanders in the courtroom gasped when they heard a pistol being fired in the call.

State police initially charged Presco with nine felony counts of aggravated assault and four misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment following the Dec. 1 incident. Six felony counts of aggravated assault and five misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment were added at the hearing.

Stoughton held all charges for court.

Presco told the 911 operator the group, which included three vehicles, kept driving by his Lakewood Drive home loudly and was doing burnouts on the street. Presco said in the call he believed the three drivers were “taunting” him with the noise and racing.

The operator was attempting to get a description of the vehicles from Presco when a gunshot could be heard. Presco said he saw sparks fly from the vehicle where the bullet struck, which is how he knew he hit it.

The 911 call was part of a second incident of Presco allegedly shooting at the group. One of the men in the vehicles, Riley Fish, 19, testified to the first incident.

Fish said he and friends in another vehicle were driving to his cousin’s residence nearby but stopped near Presco’s residence when Fish saw another friend’s car broken down with the hood up. It was around 9:30 p.m. on a Monday night.

“We weren’t doing anything wrong,” Fish said.

Fish said he was there less than a minute before he heard yelling then the pump of a shotgun. Three shells were fired, which police recovered from the porch of Presco’s home.

Fish said since it was dark, he did not get a good look at Presco. The porch of the home and the street are 30 to 50 yards from each other, Fish said. He could not tell what type of shell was fired or what direction the shots went.

After the shots were fired, Fish said, the group closed the hood of the disabled vehicle and quickly left the area for their original destination. Once at their destination, Fish said the group drove back to the area in three vehicles to record Presco’s mailbox number.

Fish said he did not exit the vehicle when driving back to Presco’s residence. After driving by, the group turned around and drove by again to return to Fish’s cousin’s house, which he said was less than a minute away.

One of the vehicles was shot in the lower part of a passenger-side door by a pistol when it traveled by the residence the third time, according to testimony. There was a juvenile in the vehicle, according to Trooper Brock Nardozzi. Police seized the pistol and two spent pistol rounds near the porch.

Presco called police during the second shooting incident, which is when the 911 call recorded the vehicle noises followed by a gunshot. Fish placed a 911 call about five minutes later.

Defense attorney Patrick Nighingale argued it was “mind-boggling” the group would decide to drive back to the residence after being shot at the first time. He argued there should not have been six counts of aggravated assault added when only five rounds were fired.

“We have no evidence my client attempted to cause injury with a deadly weapon,” Nightingale said.

Presco’s formal arraignment is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 3 in Butler County Common Pleas Courtroom 2.