e-Edition
Sign up for email newsletters
to submit an obituary
Please email obits@republicanherald.com or call 570-230-4917. Please include your name, mailing address, and phone number along with the copy and photo.
Sign up for email newsletters
e-Edition
TRENDING:
A 48-year-old New Philadelphia man faces criminal charges after police say he used a pellet rifle to shoot at a vehicle occupied by a 2-year-old child and his parents.
State police at Frackville charged Martin E. Williams in connection with the incident, which occurred the night of Sept. 13.
Police said they were dispatched to the borough for reports of shots fired at a 2015 Mazda CX5. Police said that one gunshot appeared to have made a dent on the passenger side of the vehicle.
Police spoke with the suspect, Williams, who told them that he owned firearms and consented to a search of his home. Police located a pellet gun with a scope in the defendant’s bedroom.
Two adult victims who were in the car at the time told police that the incident occurred after one of their family members had an argument with the defendant outside.
Williams reportedly said, “I’ll be back, I got something for you,” at which point the victims started to drive away in their Mazda. They said that their 2-year-old son accompanied them in the vehicle.
As they passed the defendant’s home, they heard “something loud” hit the back of their car, police said. One of the victims related he saw the defendant standing at a third-story window holding a rifle with a scope.
The victims said they did not hear a gunshot.
Williams faces misdemeanor charges of simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief – damaging property.
Charges were filed through Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko in Port Carbon.
A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 28 in Plachko’s office.
Copyright © 2025 MediaNews Group
