The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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August 22, 2012

Most charges in Aug. 4 shooting held to court

By Joe Pinchot Herald Staff Writer

FARRELL — When Lenny Harvey Jr. was captured on video in front of Razzcal’s Bar in Farrell the morning of Aug. 4, he made no effort to conceal the handgun he was holding.

That got him off a charge of carrying a firearm without a license, which District Judge Ronald E. Antos, Farrell, dismissed Tuesday. The charge requires that an offender conceal the weapon.

However, Antos accepted the testimony of Southwest Mercer County Regional and Brookfield police detectives that it was Harvey captured on the video, and Antos held for court charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.

Southwest detective Kevin Wherry played surveillance video from Razzcal’s showing Harvey engaged in a gun battle with someone across the 800 block of Roemer Boulevard at shortly after midnight.

No one was hit in the gunfire, although a window at Jac’s Kitchens and Counters, 700 Beechwood Ave., was shattered by a bullet Harvey fired, Wherry said.

Wherry said he did not identify Harvey from that video initially, but made note of his clothing, which included a light-colored shirt and long, dark shorts with white stripes down the sides.

Later that morning, Brookfield police arrested Harvey as part of the investigation of a shooting outside Rock A Billie’s, 759 Brookfield Ave., and interviewed him. He was wearing the same clothes as the shooter in Farrell, said Wherry and Brookfield detective Pete Gibb.

Wherry gave Gibb footage of the Farrell shooting and Gibb told Antos that Harvey was the shooter.

Prior to the shooting, Brookfield patrolman Scott A. Thompson, who was working security in Rock A Billies, said a bar patron told him there had been a disturbance at Razzcal’s. Shortly afterward Harvey told him to the effect, “It was going down” or “It was going to happen tonight,” Thompson said.

At closing time, Thompson saw Harvey and others climb into a white Plymouth Acclaim. The policeman went back into the bar to make sure everyone was out and to check with the bartender when he heard shots fired over 15 to 20 seconds. A patron came in and said people were shooting. At the door, Thompson said, he heard another two shots, and then saw Dana A. Borders, 30, of Sharon, who said he was hit.

Borders had come into the bar and left with Harvey, Thompson said.

As Thompson tended to Borders, who was treated at a hospital, Harvey came around the corner of the bar, Thompson said.

Police seized the Acclaim and, upon getting consent of the owner, searched it and found a 9 mm handgun under the seat. It had three bullets in it, whose casings matched those found outside Razzcal’s, Wherry said.

Harvey has not made any statements, police said. Gibb said he tried to interview Harvey, but Harvey was drunk and “mildly belligerent” and the detective decided it was best not to continue.

Brookfield police have not charged anyone with the Brookfield Avenue shooting. Wherry said he has not identified the man with whom Harvey engaged in the gun battle.

Harvey was returned to Mercer County Jail after failing to post bond.

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