A Jeannette man was being held without bail after an 11-hour standoff last week shut down a city neighborhood overnight.
Jesse McCurdy, 49, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of risking catastrophe, prohibited possession of a firearm and defiant trespass.
Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies said they arrived at McCurdy’s Good Street home at 6:45 p.m. April 19 to serve him with a protection-from-abuse order. He refused to come outside, according to court papers.
Meanwhile, a teen boy escaped from a second-story window, authorities said.
During the next several hours, police said they established a perimeter in the residential neighborhood and a state police Special Emergency Response Team was called in for assistance.
As negotiators attempted to get McCurdy to surrender, he apparently set a couch on fire, as a neighbor reported seeing flames in a front window, according to court papers. Firefighters were not permitted to go to the house for safety reasons and McCurdy apparently extinguished the flames.
Troopers used flash bangs and tear gas. McCurdy eventually surrendered after 5 a.m. April 20. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Authorities said they seized several guns from the home. He was prohibited from having the guns because of a past mental health commitment, according to court papers.
McCurdy did not have an attorney listed in online court records. He was being held at the Westmoreland County Prison. A May 5 preliminary hearing is set. Sheriff’s deputies filed the charges against him the day after his surrender.
