A Schuylkill County man accused of pulling a gun on his landlord last month appeared in District Court Tuesday morning.
Edward Renna, 65, of Minersville, has been charged with felony aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment, both misdemeanors, in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred back on April 14 at a home he rented on Lewis St.
Renna appeared before District Magistrate Judge David Plachko Tuesday for a preliminary hearing on those charges.
At the hearing, Renna’s landlord at the time, Joseph Sborz, testified that he was posting a sign outside the home indicating it was for sale when he was confronted by his tenant.
Sborz said Renna had rented from him for 7 years before this alleged encounter. At about 1 p.m. that day, as he was posting the sign, Renna exited through the front door and storm door and said he couldn’t post the sign, the landlord testified.
“F*** you, I’m going to kill you,” Sborz recalled Renna saying during their first interaction that day.
“He was screaming,” Sborz said.
After that happened, Renna retreated back in the home only to reemerge a short time later, Sborz added.
The screen door flew open and that’s when Renna allegedly pointed a rifle directly at Sborz.
“I just saw the barrel of the rifle,” the landlord said in court.
Sborz said he ran behind a vehicle while telling a woman who was behind him to run.
“I didn’t feel too good. My stomach was in my throat. My heart was pounding,” Sborz said. “I thought he was going to shoot me.”
Also testifying at Tuesday’s hearing was Joan Kear, who said she was returning home from a walk at the time of the alleged incident. She said she didn’t know Sborz or Renna. She just happened to be behind Sborz when Renna is alleged to have pulled the gun on his landlord.
“All I saw was a rifle,” she testified.
Kear described Renna as “angry” at the moment.
“I froze,” she said. “When (Sborz) told me to run, I was scared. He (Renna) looked at me and then he looked at Mr. Sborz.”
Eventually, Kear said she ran down the street to get away from the confrontation.
Renna was represented by William Stephens Jr., of the Mack Law Offices in Kingston. Stephens attempted to get the felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor reckless endangerment charges dropped based on the testimony that had been provided.
He argued that the rifle was not loaded and that police didn’t find any ammunition inside Renna’s home during a search. That allegedly being the case, Stephens said that an aggravated assault charge did not apply since no one was injured and there was no intent to injure.
Plachko disagreed for the purposes of his court and felt that argument was best suited for Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas. The judge held all three charges against Renna over for court.
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