Ryan Bigler

WINFIELD TWP — A homeowner fired a handgun at a sport utility vehicle late Saturday night, after police say the driver of that vehicle tried to run into the man.

The gunfire caused the driver to back up the vehicle, which struck a tree. He took off on foot, authorities said, and later hid a duffel bag containing a handgun and around $19,000.

Police eventually found the duffel bag and arrested the suspect. But they admit they have many unanswered questions about the case.

“We're still trying to figure everything out,” state police Lt. Eric Hermick said today.

Ryan D. Bigler, 30, whose last known address was in Middlesex Township, is being held in Butler County Prison without bail. He is facing a list of charges including felony assault.

Police believe Bigler since mid-January has been harassing the victims, a husband and wife who live on Spiker Road in Winfield Township.

“(Bigler) believed (the victims) were the cause of a personal problem,” Hermick said. “But he may have been mistaken or delusional.”

The couple said the man has sent them ominous text messages, according to court documents, and “pictures of guns threatening to harm them.”

They also remembered him following them in a black Chevrolet Tahoe from their house to a shopping plaza.

The 38-year-old husband recounted seeing the same vehicle about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when he returned home. The victim backed his vehicle into the home's detached garage and began walking up the driveway.

The Chevy Tahoe “began to accelerate toward (the victim),” according to a police affidavit. “Fearing the vehicle would hit him, he pulled a gun from his waistband and fired two rounds at the moving vehicle.”

Hermick said police believed the bullets from the .45-caliber pistol hit the vehicle's grill and possibly ended up in the engine.

He said investigators determined that Bigler had rented the 2018 Tahoe, which police impounded.

The gunfire stopped Bigler, who acknowledged being “fearful,” documents said. He put the vehicle in reverse and while backing up hit a tree at the end of the driveway.

He apparently fled with the duffel bag. A short time later, police got a call for a suspicious person at a Star Grille Road home, which is not far from the victims' house on Spiker Road.

Patrol troopers eventually found Bigler at the intersection of Star Grille and Marwood roads. While there, they noticed footprints in the snow that presumably belonged to the defendant.

Police Cpl. Gregory Bogan followed the footprints to a nearby creek.

In the creek, Hermick said, was the duffel bag that contained a Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol and “in the range of $19,000.”

Bigler later told police that he put the gun in the creek “because he was scared,” the affidavit said.

Hermick described Bigler as “not being very cooperative” with the police investigation.

He noted that police have obtained a search warrant for the Tahoe, which appeared to have “white powder residue” on the center console. They were planning to search it Monday.

District Judge Wayne Seibel on Sunday arraigned Bigler on a felony charge of aggravated assault, and misdemeanor charges of stalking, possession of a firearm without a concealed carry license, tampering with physical evidence, harassment, trespass, and loitering and prowling at night.

Hermick said police believe the homeowner who shot his gun acted in self-defense and would not be charged.