A Schuylkill County man is in jail after Mahanoy City police say he threatened to kill a woman with a knife and made a “throat slash” gesture at her home Tuesday evening.
John Byczek, 39, of Pottsville, is charged with aggravated assault, possessing an instrument of crime, terroristic threats, and two counts of simple assault. He’s being held at Schuylkill County Prison on $10,000 bail.
Police were called to a home in the 600 block of W. Centre St. around 6 p.m. Tuesday for a report that someone was kicking and pounding on a woman’s door and had threatened to kill her. While police were on the way, dispatchers reported the man was armed with a weapon.
The woman told police the man had fled after threatening to kill her. She described him as a tall white man wearing a black shirt and said she saw him heading east on Centre St.
An officer driving east on Centre St. found a man matching the description sitting on a front porch in the 400 block of W. Centre St.. The man, identified as Byczek, was immediately hostile, shouting and asking what he did wrong, according to police.
When the officer asked where the weapon was, Byczek pulled a black switchblade-style knife from his rear pocket. After the knife was seized, Byczek told police he had been at the address retrieving iced tea, a drill, and cigarettes. He denied having any contact with the woman.
Byczek was taken into custody with help from Shenandoah and West Mahanoy Township police.
The woman later told police she had been leasing the upper portion of the home to members of Byczek’s family. She reported several verbal altercations over the course of two months, during which she allowed Byczek to live there even though he was not on the lease.
She told police that on Tuesday, Byczek kicked and pounded on the front door when she told him to leave the property. He then threatened to kill her with the knife he was carrying before she called police, she said. She told police Byczek made a “throat slash” gesture against his neck while threatening to kill her, then left.
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