A Schuylkill County man is facing misdemeanor charges after he allegedly yelled at a child playing in a yard and threatened to break his “(BLEEPING) arm.”
According to court documents filed by police in Orwigsburg, officers were called to a home on W. Market St. back on April 18 after it was reported that a neighbor threatened their child who was playing in the back yard.
The complainants, police say, said their neighbor – identified as 58-year-old Robert Hopstetter – was on his raised porch and yelling at their son while he was playing. The son said he moved toward the middle of his yard to see if it Hopstetter was yelling at him. When he did this, Hopstetter pointed at the child and reportedly said, “I’ll break your (bleeping) arm.”
Police say surveillance video confirms Hopstetter yelling at the child. As police investigated the situation, they say they could hear Hopstetter continuing to yell obscenities, including the F-word.
When confronted about the allegations, Hopstetter reportedly told police that people kept breaking into his home. They say he was “extremely agitated but did not make any sense with many of his comments.”
Hopstetter denied making the threat to the child and further said that “people are always coming down on him,” police say.
Police have charged Hopstetter with misdemeanor charges of making terroristic threats and harassment and summary offenses for disorderly conduct. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 24 before District Magistrate Judge AJ Serina.
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