Police: Leechburg woman charged after giving cops video she said proved her innocence
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A woman is accused of pointed a rifle at her neighbor’s dog and threatening to shoot it before turning the weapon on its owner when he told her killing the animal would land her in jail, according to Leechburg police.
Tracey A. Geracia, 53, of Kirkpatrick Avenue, was charged with a felony count of making terroristic threats along with counts of reckless endangerment, harassment and simple assault in connection with the Jan. 17 incident.
A date for a preliminary hearing before District Judge James Andring has not yet been scheduled because there is an active warrant for Geracia’s arrest, according to court staff.
Police charged Geracia after she gave them videos she said exonerated her of the accusations, they said.
But rather than proving her innocence, the videos confirmed what her neighbor reported to police, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.
Geracia’s neighbor, who was not identified in the complaint, told police he was clearing snow when his 11-month-old dog got loose in the backyard shared by his and Geracia’s duplex.
The man said Geracia came out of her house and repeatedly threatened to kill the dog, the complaint said.
When the man told Geracia that killing the animal would result in her going to jail, she aimed the gun at him, according to investigators.
He said Geracia uttered a stream of profanities at him while he was retrieving the dog, according to the complaint.
Police said Geracia admitted to pointing the rifle at the dog, but said it was “a BB gun, the dog was in my yard,” the complaint said. She denied pointing the weapon at her neighbor, police said.
The responding officer informed Geracia that the dispute between her and her neighbor over use of the yard had previously been settled by a district judge who ruled it was to be shared by the duplexes, the complaint said.
When police asked to inspect the BB gun, Geracia told them it was, in fact, a .22 rifle, the complaint said.
After police notified Geracia that charges would be filed, she emailed them videos in which she said the dog can be seen coming at her before she points the rifle and shoos it away, according to the complaint.
Police wrote in the complaint that when they viewed the video, it showed a different series of events.
They said the dog can be seen playing in the snow in the backyard before Geracia comes onto the porch holding a rifle. Geracia pointed the gun at the dog when it began walking toward her, the complaint said.
The video also shows Geracia yelling at her neighbor as he retrieves the dog and then aiming the rifle in his direction, according to investigators.