The lifelong friend who says he was beaten unconscious in the Schuylkill Haven fight that sent a Schuylkill County man to jail on felony assault charges now faces a criminal charge of his own, after police say he brought an unlicensed handgun to the confrontation and told him, “You’re going to do what I say, or else.”
Micah Smith, 37, of Hamburg, is charged with a single count of carrying a firearm without a license, a first-degree misdemeanor, in connection with the July 7 incident on North Garfield Avenue in Schuylkill Haven. Schuylkill Haven police say Smith did not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and told them he had let an earlier permit expire.
Police were called shortly after midnight July 7 to a N. Garfield Ave. residence for a report of a fight in progress, and dispatchers relayed three separate calls from witnesses, according to police. Officers arrived to find Smith bloodied and getting to his feet, and Joshua King walking along the sidewalk, police say.
A neighbor who lives across the street told police that Smith arrived at the home around 8:30 p.m., that he was a longtime family friend, and that the two men drank and spent more than a half-hour together before the situation turned. The neighbor said Smith pulled a black Hi-Point pistol from his front pants pocket and set it on a table between them, according to police. Police say King told them Smith then said something to the effect of the threat.
King told police the pistol was unloaded, with the magazine separated from the gun, police say. According to police, King said he was eventually able to hide the pistol upstairs – telling officers in one account that he slipped it away while Smith was distracted, and in a later interview that he wrestled the gun from Smith during their first altercation. King led officers to the weapon inside a box at the top of the stairs, where they recovered a Hi-Point 9 mm pistol with no round in the chamber and the magazine removed, police say.
Police say video footage from the residence contradicted Smith’s account that King had attacked him without provocation.
A home surveillance camera recorded Smith shortly after midnight saying he could not find his gun and that he had lost it, police say. Officers noted Smith was bleeding above one cheekbone and had a large swollen area on the other side of his face.
Reached by phone the next day, Smith told police he had carried the gun for protection and believed it was legal to carry the pistol concealed in his pocket as long as the magazine was out and the weapon unloaded, police say. Smith told police he used to have a permit but had let it expire, according to police. Police say Smith also stated, “it was in my car, and then it was my pocket,” and, “sometimes the show of an empty gun is enough.”
The firearms charge stems from the same confrontation that led to felony charges against King, who is accused of beating Smith.
King, 40, was charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor simple assault, and all charges were held for the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas following a preliminary hearing July 14 before Magisterial District Judge Casimir Kosciolek. King’s bail was set at 10 percent of $20,000, and he was held at Schuylkill County Prison.
Testifying at that hearing as the victim in the assault case, Smith said he was watching television at a home in Auburn when he got a call that King was being unruly, and that he went to the North Garfield Avenue residence to tell King he needed to leave. Smith said King “just turned around and clocked me,” knocking him unconscious. Smith testified that he brought the pistol because “I know (Josh) and I was protecting myself. He’s unstable.” Smith denied telling King, “You’re going to do what I say or else.” He testified that after regaining consciousness he returned across the street to retrieve the missing pistol, and that King attacked him a second time near a nearby park. Smith said he was diagnosed with brain hemorrhaging and was hospitalized for nearly two days.
At that hearing, King’s public defender argued that Smith’s visible firearm showed a capacity for harm and that King had acted defensively, an argument the judge rejected in declining to dismiss the charges.
A preliminary hearing on Smith’s firearms charge is scheduled for Aug. 25 at 1 p.m. before Kosciolek.
RELATED:
“He Kept Saying He’s the Butcher” – Victim Testifies in Schuylkill County Assault Case
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