Gun threat leads to house arrest
A Portersville man was sentenced to house arrest Thursday in Butler County Court on after previously pleading guilty to threatening another person with a rifle.
Walter D. Madden, 66, was sentenced to 90 days on the county Intermediate Punishment Program with house arrest and electronic monitoring after being immediately paroled with time served from the three to 12 months county prison sentence issued by Judge Timothy McCune on Thursday.
Madden pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and summary driving on a suspended license on Aug. 9.
He was also ordered to undergo 50 hours of community service, pay $504.85 in restitution and $200 in fines.
He was initially charged with misdemeanor terroristic threats, simple assault, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and summary driving with a suspended license-DUI related after an incident in Slippery Rock Township on April 15.
Pennsylvania State Police say Madden showed up at the home of Vincent Cenkner with a rifle, intending to threaten him with it.
Cenkner was not home at the time, however, his wife and children were. Police said Cenkner's wife reported seeing Madden holding a rifle before getting into a truck and driving off.
Cenkner then returned home and received a call from Madden, where he told Cenkner he was a “dead man,” court documents said, threatening to shoot him.
Madden admitted to police that he went to the home with a .22-caliber rifle after an argument between a friend and Cenkner.
Police searched his truck and found two firearms — a .22-caliber rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun. Both guns were loaded.
He was placed in the Butler County Prison on $30,000 bail following arraignment, which was later changed to unsecured bail and he was released on April 26.
