Frackville Man Allegedly Pulled Gun in Route 61 Road Rage Incident on Monday

A Frackville man is accused of pulling a gun on another driver in a road rage incident earlier this week.

Joseph Conapinski is facing multiple felony charges related to this incident.

According to court documents filed by St. Clair Police, the incident happened at about 4 p.m. Monday on Route 61 in the borough. 

Police received a call from a man who says another driver pulled a gun on him and two of his passengers while they were headed north on Route 61

The 9-1-1 caller said he was near the Exxon station on Route 61 when he went around a dark gray Dodge Ram, purportedly driven by Conapinksi. Conapinksi then pulled up alongside the other driver and yelled, “Learn how to f***ing drive!” out the window of his truck.

After yelling at the other driver, Conapinski got behind the other driver while they continued north on Route 61. Conapinski once again drove up aside of the other driver and out of his window, he pointed a silver revolver with a long barrel at the other driver and his two passengers, the other driver told police, before speeding off.

The purported victim in this incident told police that after this happened, he pulled over in the Sunoco parking lot on Route 61 and called police. 

While St. Clair Police Officer Christopher Wallace was speaking with the victim, he got notice fro Schuylkill County 9-1-1 that Frackville police had stopped a vehicle in their borough and had a male in custody.

Both passengers in the victim’s vehicle relayed similar information about the driver and the gun he allegedly pulled on them. 

Wallace says he then drove to Frackville and met with police who had Conapinksi in custody. Conapinski was wearing a bright green shirt and a hat. That matched the description provided by the other driver and his two passengers, Wallace says in his affidavit.

Frackville police also told Wallace that they’d recovered a silver revolver from Conapinski’s vehicle and that gun also matched the description provided by members of the other party.

After Wallace read Conapinski his Miranda rights, he purportedly told the officer, “I’ll talk. I got nothing to hide.”

Conapinski allegedly told Wallace that the other driver was driving erratically and cutting people off and that “s*** pi**es him off.”

He also denied pulling a gun on the other driver, according to Wallace. Instead, he said he “would rather beat someone up.” 

Wallace also says Conapinski then said, “Wow, man, this f***ing guy. I’m going to find that f***ing guy.”

Conapinski was arraigned Monday night before District Magistrate Stephen Bayer. He’s being charged with three counts of second-degree felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment and a single count of misdemeanor weapon possession.

Bayer released Conapinski on $10,000 unsecured bail. A Preliminary Hearing in this case is scheduled for July 23 before District Magistrate David Plachko.