A Center Township man is asking a judge to dismiss or reduce charges alleging he fired a shotgun and a .45-caliber handgun at a group of young men he thought were taunting him and racing cars in front of his house in December.

A hearing was held Wednesday, May 27, in Butler County Common Pleas Court on the habeas corpus petition filed by the attorney representing Bryan Lee Presco, 57. State police charged Presco with nine felony counts of aggravated assault for attempting to cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon, six felony counts of aggravated assault for attempting to cause serious bodily injury and nine misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment.

Judge Maura Palumbi said she would review the submitted evidence, including Presco’s 911 call and testimony from his preliminary hearing, before issuing a decision.

Presco’s attorney, Kenneth Nightingale, argued that the number of charges filed was unreasonable since a total of five gunshots were fired during the Dec. 1 incident. He divided the incident into two acts. Police described the entire incident in an affidavit of probable cause.

According to the affidavit, police were dispatched to Presco’s home on Lakewood Drive at 9:26 p.m. after he called 911 and said three cars were racing by and he fired shots at the vehicles. The young men called the police barracks and said they had been shot at.

Presco told police the young men are always doing burnouts, and he shot over their heads with a handgun and a shotgun because he is sick of it. A live 12-gauge buckshot shell was found on his front porch. Three spent shells were found in the front yard near the porch, and two spent .45-caliber casings were found on the porch. Troopers seized a Colt .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun and an Emperor Arms 12-gauge shotgun from his home, according to the affidavit.

A 17-year-old, identified as K.M., was driving a silver Ford Mustang with Dawson Davis, 20, as his passenger. Riley Fish, 19, was behind them driving a red Chevrolet Cobalt when the driver of a white Volvo, which they knew to have mechanical problems, flashed their lights at them, according to the affidavit.

Both cars pulled over and while the occupants were walking toward the Volvo, they saw a man on the porch at a Lakewood Drive home holding a shotgun. They asked the man why he had a gun, said there is no need for it and told him the Volvo was having mechanical problems, according to the affidavit.

They told police the man cycled the shotgun, fired a shot at them and the shot whizzed by their heads. They got back into their cars and started to leave when they heard two more shots, according to the affidavit. That was the first act, Nightingale said.

The second act begins after they drove to the home of Luke Bowser, 19, who also lives on Lakewood Drive. He wasn’t home, but arrived as a passenger in a maroon Ford Crown Victoria driven by Max Spohn, 20, with a 15-year-old identified as J.R. as a second passenger.

Bowser climbed into the Mustang while the others got into their cars, driving to the scene to find the address of the house where the shots were fired so they could call police. Fish and Spohn told police they didn’t know the reason for the trip and thought the group was going to get some food, according to the affidavit.

With the Mustang in the lead, the vehicles proceeded toward the scene on Fernwood Drive. While passing Lakewood Drive but still on Fernwood Drive, a shot was fired at the cars, according to the affidavit. The drivers tried to leave by turning right onto Lakewood Drive when another gunshot hit the front passenger door of the Crown Victoria. J.R. was in the front passenger seat but was not injured. The bullet was lodged in the door panel.

Nightingale argued that there is no evidence of Presco pointing the shotgun at Fish or the vehicle even though one of the young men testified that he heard a shot whiz past his head.

He said one round from the .45-caliber gun hit the door of the Crown Victoria, but no one was injured.

Nightingale said the charges should be dismissed. One or two counts of aggravated assault for attempting to cause bodily injury and a count of reckless endangerment could be valid, he said.

Davis testified at Presco’s preliminary hearing that he heard a shot whiz past his head during the first act, said Kevin Scheibel, the deputy attorney general prosecuting the case.

Scheibel argued that the charges reflect Presco’s intent, which he displayed by pulling the trigger. He said Presco attempted to cause serious bodily injury when he fired the guns.