Told to Stop Smoking Pot, Man Punched Mom’s Boyfriend, Police Say

Lower Saucon Township Police said in a news release Tuesday that a 22-year-old Scenic View Lane resident was charged with simple assault, harassment, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a small amount of marijuana, after an argument about smoking pot allegedly escalated to a physical altercation Jan. 22.

Police said Michael Reiss, of the 3000 block of Scenic View Lane, was allegedly smoking marijuana in a bedroom in his home at about 11:30 a.m. when his mother’s boyfriend, Jeffrey Horn, 60, of the 400 block of Harrison Street, Allentown, “told him to stop.”

Police said Reiss then came out of his room and began punching Horn, knocking him to the ground.

Reiss then allegedly knocked his mother down and began to come after Horn again, prompting Horn to pick up a kitchen knife “to protect himself,” police said.

Horn used the knife to block several punches, cutting Reiss in the process, police added.

After being released from treatment for the cuts at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill police said Reiss was arrested, arraigned before District Judge Daniel Corpora and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail.