SLIPPERY ROCK — A ceramic mug hurled toward a state police officer's head. A police drone struck down by a baseball. The possible sighting of a gun barrel from a window.

Those were some of the elements encountered by troopers Jan. 10 at a Prospect home where a man, apparently mentally taxed by the death of a son, refused to surrender on a warrant, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Slippery Rock.

The standoff eventually ended with no injuries and Gerry P. Foster, 61, under arrest.

District Judge Bill O'Donnell ordered Foster held for trial on felony charges of prohibited possession of a firearm and attempted aggravated assault, and a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.

Later, O'Donnell agreed to conditionally reduce the defendant's bond from $50,000 to $10,000. He has been in the Butler County Prison since his arrest.

Police initially went to Foster's Schantz Road home in Prospect on Jan. 9 to serve him with a mental health warrant sworn out by his wife, Cpl. Michael Lewis testified. But before Lewis and five troopers got there, the defendant had fled into nearby woods. A five-hour search eventually was called off with no capture. The next day, about 9 a.m., police were back at the home after family reported Foster had returned. Lewis said police tried to hail him out, but to no avail.

Police next formed a perimeter around the house. Lewis subsequently threw a small statue through a front window “to draw (Foster's) attention” to police outside.

That, too, failed to get a response from the holed up suspect.

Lewis then moved to the back porch, to a window that another trooper had seconds earlier broken with a small baton. He again tried to get Foster to surrender.

“He said, “(expletive) you. Come in and get me,” Lewis said, “and then he chucked what would be determined later was a coffee cup out that same window. It slid right past my face.”

He guessed it came within a foot or so of hitting him.

“When that came through,” Lewis said, “I thought at the time it was a gunshot, the way it came out that window.”

The officer jumped off the back porch, falling backward into a fence. He kept his eye on the window.

“I saw what I thought was a rifle barrel, or a gun barrel, come out that same window,” he testified.

On cross-examination by Foster's attorney, Al Lindsay, Lewis conceded, “I can't 100 percent say that it was a gun barrel because I was basically falling off the porch thinking I was about to be shot.”

Members of the state police Special Emergency Response Team were called in to assist, and they deployed a drone to provide surveillance of the house.

But the drone was soon taken out of action, allegedly by Foster. Lewis said he later learned that Foster had struck the drone, which was flying at window level 10 to 15 feet from the house, with a baseball.

Foster eventually surrendered without further incident. He was taken to the barracks and interviewed, according to testimony, after waiving his Miranda rights.

Foster admitted that he did not immediately give himself up, said Trooper Brian Palko, who conducted the interview, “because (police) weren't giving him a good reason to come out.”

He also admitted throwing a “tea mug” out the window. “He alleged that it was not (thrown) near the trooper,” Palko said.

Additionally, he acknowledged targeting the drone.

“He indicated the drone was at the back window, making noises,” Palko testified. “He didn't like it and threw a baseball at the drone.”

The preliminary damage to the drone was estimated at $500.

After the standoff ended, Palko said, police executed a search warrant at the house and found two guns — a .30-06 rifle and a muzzle loader — that were wrapped in a blanket in a back bedroom.

But when interviewed, Foster denied any weapons were in the house.

The trooper testified that he spoke to a cousin of the defendant, who advised that on Jan. 9 “he observed Mr. Foster with those weapons that were discovered, and Mr. Foster wrapped them in a blanket and hid them in a back room.”

Palko noted that because of a prior drug conviction, Foster is prohibited under state law from possessing any firearms.

Lindsay, following testimony, asked O'Donnell to dismiss the attempted aggravated assault charge, calling it “a stretch,” based on the evidence.

Prosecutor David Beichner, a county assistant district attorney, however, argued otherwise, pointing out that the ceramic mug came very close to hitting Lewis' head.

O'Donnell ruled all charges be held for court.

During a separate argument for a bond reduction, Lindsay called two family members of Foster's to testify. They described Foster as suffering physical and mental health problems.

They also referred to Foster's mental state being impacted by the death of his son about a year and a half ago. Lindsay asked for a lower bond to allow his client to get out of prison and receive health treatment.

Despite Beichner's objection, O'Donnell agreed to a $10,000 bond for Foster, with the condition that a mental health plan is in place before his release, and that the defendant follow all recommendations.