Andrew Hitcho III, 32, is shown in a booking photo with a disposable mask under his chin. Lower Saucon Township Police say he is charged with misdemeanor terroristic threats and harassment following an alleged incident that occurred Monday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, police in many jurisdictions are taking precautionary measures when making arrests. For example, the Philadelphia Police Department now requires officers to place a cloth, paper or other non-N95 mask over a prisoner’s nose and mouth immediately following an arrest, according to an April 8 Action News report.
A local man is facing misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats and harassment after police say he allegedly threatened another individual during a disturbance Monday afternoon.
In a post published on the Lower Saucon Township Police Department’s Crimewatch site Tuesday, police said Andrew Hitcho III, 32, was charged after allegedly threatening to hit the other person in the head with a pick handle.
Pick handles–which are often made of wood–are used to hold pickaxes. A pickaxe is a heavy metal tool used to perform various types of manual labor.
“Through investigation and witness statements police were told that Mr. Hitcho was initially yelling from a third floor window that he was ‘coming down with a gun,” police said. “Mr. Hitcho then entered a shed, removed a pick head and came out swinging the handle in an aggressive manner and struck the shed.”
Police said officers subsequently “located the pick handle in the rear of a vehicle.”
According to police, the alleged incident occurred at 2:20 p.m. in the 1500 block of Brickote Lane. Hitcho has an address there as well as an address in the 700 block of Front Street in Hellertown borough, according to public records.
Police indicated that following Hitcho’s arrest, he was taken to department headquarters and then to Northampton County Central Booking for a preliminary arraignment on the charges.
According to court records, Hitcho was released on $10,000 unsecured bail following his preliminary arraignment.
As of Tuesday, a preliminary hearing in his case was scheduled for Tuesday, May 5 before District Judge Alicia Rose Zito.
