CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A Clarion man is in jail after he allegedly entered the Clarion County Courthouse while illegally possessing a firearm.
According to court documents, Clarion Borough Police filed criminal charges against 39-year-old Thomas Ray Anderson in Magisterial District Judge Timothy P. Schill’s office on Tuesday, April 19.
Police say the incident occurred at the Clarion County Courthouse on Friday, April 8, involving Anderson entering the courthouse carrying a weapon upon his person. Police had previous knowledge of Anderson, and he is a person not to possess a firearm based on prior criminal convictions. Anderson had told police in the past that he knew he was a person not to possess, according to
Police ran a criminal history of Anderson and noted three separate felony convictions that prohibit him from possessing a firearm.
On April 13, police interviewed a witness employee of the Tax Assessment office in the Clarion County Courthouse. The known employee related that Anderson came into her office on April 8, around 9 a.m., with a female inquiring about outstanding taxes on property. The known employee stated that Anderson provided paperwork he provided he owed money to G.H. Harris, which collects delinquent per capita taxes, the complaint indicates.
According to the complaint, the known employee told Anderson he should pay G. H. Harris soon because they will call, come to your house, and garnish your wages, and they can be “really feisty.” The known employee stated that Anderson replied: “Oh, I wish they would come to my house because I can get really feisty, too.”
The known employee stated while Anderson was making this statement he lifted his shirt revealing a gun in a black holster on his right side. The known employee related that Anderson was chuckling when he made the statement, according to the complaint.
The known employee stated that Anderson put his shirt back down, thanked the employee, and left. The known employee then immediately called down to the security desk in the basement of the courthouse and asked “since when do we allow people with guns in the courthouse?”
The known employee provided the Deputy on the phone with a clothing description, a black pullover fleece, and camouflage pants. Police asked the known employee to describe the gun, and she related it was in a black holster, and that it was a gun that required a magazine, the complaint states.
On April 14, police reviewed surveillance video of the incident.
The video shows Anderson entering the courthouse with a female on April 8, at 9:09 a.m. Police recognized Anderson in the video from previous law enforcement encounters. On the video at the front entrance of the basement door, police viewed Anderson enter the courthouse basement area and observed Anderson reach back and adjust something on his right side hip area. Police’s observation of this motion by Anderson is consistent when they wear a firearm on a holster and adjust it. It also appeared to police that when Anderson made this motion, he grabbed the handle of the gun, which would have been underneath his fleece jacket. Also during this motion, police viewed what appeared to be the bottom of the holster/firearm pull away and separate from Anderson’s person, the complaint indicates.
Police then viewed a different camera angle as Anderson approached the security checkpoint in the basement of the courthouse. Anderson walked through the metal detector, and the detector alerted the presence of metal in the midsection of Anderson’s person, which displayed a red indicter on the metal detector. Police also viewed on Anderson’s right back side what appeared something below his shirt line. They then viewed Anderson approach a deputy at the desk and pull up his shirt, while keeping his shirt on the right side down. The video also shows Anderson walking away from the Security checkpoint area, up the basement steps onto the first floor, and into the assessment office, according to the complaint.
The video shows that Anderson is in the Assessment office for several minutes before he exits the office and the courthouse through the basement exit at approximately 9:13 a.m. Just prior to Anderson exiting the courthouse, you can see on the video the Deputy answer the phone at the security checkpoint — which would have been the courthouse employee calling to report that Anderson had a gun. Anderson and the female are shown exiting the courthouse and getting back into a white passenger van that was parked on Main Street and driving west on Main Street, the complaint states.
The complaint indicates that police have viewed Anderson in the van in the past, and he drove it to the Clarion Borough Police Department just weeks prior to this incident.
On April 19, police, with the assistance of the PA State Police SERT team, served and executed a search warrant issued by Judge Seidle-Patton on a property located on Millcreek Road, in Highland Township, Clarion County.
Law enforcement seized the following items during the search:
– Heritage Rough Rider .22 cal revolver, loaded with two live rounds and four spent rounds
– Ruger LCR .327 cal, loaded
– Filipietta 44 cal muzzleloader revolver
– Ammunition for 30-06 rifle
– .22 caliber ammunition
– .327 ammunition
– Multiple shotgun shells
– 9 mm ammunition
Anderson was arraigned at 12:14 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, in front of Judge Schill on the following charges:
– Possession Of Firearm Prohibited, Felony 1 (three counts)
Unable to post $50,000.00 monetary bail, he was lodged in the Clarion County Jail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 3 at 9:45 a.m. in Clarion County Central Court.
