Freed’s Standoff Charges Bound Over To Court

Charges for aggravated assault and related offenses filed against a Lewistown man were bound over to the Mifflin County Court of Common Pleas despite the concerted efforts of his defense attorney to have the charges dismissed during a preliminary hearing Thursday.

According to court documents, Roy R. Freed, 31, of 16 Stoneroad Court, is charged in connection with a nine-hour standoff with police at his residence on Jan. 8 after a frantic 911 phone call from a young girl stating “Roy has a gun in his hand … he’s trying to shoot us!”

Magisterial District Judge Tammy Hunter bound the charges over after hearing testimony from four witnesses and a recording of the phone call made by the girl to the Mifflin County 911 Dispatch Center.

A number of statements made by the alleged victims in the case conflicted with testimony made by two police officers involved in the incident. *Freed’s attorney, Adam Bompadre, of Harrisburg, argued for his client’s charges to be dismissed as a result.*

*”The testimony we’ve heard established my client did not point a gun at anyone and he did not threaten anyone,” Bompadre said.*

According to documents, the standoff began around 8:30 p.m. that evening, when a young female caller contacted the Mifflin County 911 Dispatch Center. The caller told the dispatcher “Roy has a gun!” and said there was fighting inside the residence, documents indicate.

Nine hours later, after numerous attempts by police officers to coax Freed out of the residence, he surrendered to members of the Pennsylvania State Police Western Regional Special Emergency Response Team. Police said no one was injured in the incident.

District Attorney Stephen Snook called two officers from the Mifflin County Regional Police Department and two of the alleged victims residing with Freed — Crystal Nearhood, 31, and her 12-year-old daughter, Ashley — to testify.

Patrolmen Eric Norman and Chris Kaniecki said they were among the first officers to arrive at the scene. Both said they used the police car’s public address system to instruct the home’s occupants to come outside.

Nearhood and her daughter complied with their instructions, but Nearhood became confrontational with police when she was told she could not go back into the house to get her 4-year-old son, Justin, both officers said.

“She (Nearhood) said Roy had left the house 30 minutes ago,” Norman said. “She said none of the kids were in danger because Roy only pointed the gun at her. She was very uncooperative and had the odor of an intoxicating beverage.”

Kaniecki said Nearhood became belligerent with them and was eventually placed in handcuffs because her conduct was impeding their response to the situation.

“I heard her say to Officer Norman ‘What’s the big deal? Roy points guns at me all the time,'” Kaniecki said.

Nearhood’s daughter, Alison, said she saw Freed drink “a cup of vodka in the kitchen” before the family watched a football game on television. The girl said at one point her mother was asleep and she was in the same room trying to sleep when Freed entered the room.

“Roy was smashing stuff in his and Mom’s bedroom. Roy was trying to get Mom up,” the girl said. “He broke the door off the dresser and threw the phone against the wall.”

“He got the gun from behind the dresser and started walking toward the basement. He said he was going to pack his stuff up and go,” she said.

Alison Nearhood said she could tell Freed was angry.

“I called 911 when he picked up the gun. I felt bad. When I called 911 Mom got up and then I wasn’t scared,” she said.

The girl said she walked down the hallway to the basement while she was on the phone with 911, and she could see Freed putting the gun away in a gun cabinet. She said her mother also was in the basement with Freed, but she did not hear if they were arguing because she “wasn’t paying attention.”

Nearhood testified she and Freed had lived together for six years and bought the house on Stoneroad Court a year ago. Nearhood also said Freed was drinking vodka on the day of the incident, and she also drank a shot of vodka before she went to bed.

“I woke up when I heard Alison bawling,” Nearhood said. “I went to see what was the matter and I saw Roy at the top of the (basement) steps with the gun.”

Nearhood told Snook she did not hear anything break when Freed was “smashing things in the bedroom,” but she confirmed the dresser and phone had been damaged by him.

Nearhood said she did not remember the exact sequence of events, but she did not recall herself, her daughter or Freed being in the basement during the incident.

“It wasn’t a fight. I took the gun from him, removed the clip and told him he was stupid for upsetting her by smashing stuff.

“He told me to get rid of the cops, and then he went into the basement,” she said, correcting her earlier statement.

Nearhood also said she did not recall any point where Freed pointed a gun at her.

“Alison told me Roy said he was moving out. I assume he was getting his guns together to leave,” she said. “We’d been having problems, and his clothes were already packed because he was going to leave for a while.”

Nearhood also admitted she did have a confrontation with officers outside of the home when they told her she could not re-enter the house to get her son, Justin. Court documents show the 4-year-old boy did eventually exit the home on his own after police called out to him with the public address system.

Nearhood told Bompadre she did not recall making any of the statements the police officers said she made during their earlier testimony. She also said Freed did not point a gun at or threaten her and her daughter in any way.

Snook also played a recording of Alison Nearhood’s call to the 911 Dispatch Center. Some portions of the recording were difficult to understand, but the voice of a young girl sobbing hysterically as she spoke to the dispatcher was clearly heard.

“Roy … he has a gun in his hand. He has a gun and he’s trying to shoot us!” the girl said.

“Is he outside?” the dispatcher asked.

“No, he’s inside,” the girl responded.

*In his closing argument, Bompadre described the girl’s call as the frightened overreaction of a girl who saw Freed was angry.*

*”I realize he shouldn’t be smashing things, but there’s nothing illegal about that in his own home. He picked up the gun and went to put it away,” Bompadre said. “His guns are legally owned and he’s not charged with any gun violations.”*

*”Granted, she was scared because he picked up the gun and he was mad, but there was no threat made,” he said.*

Snook referred back to the recorded 911 call.

“You heard the tape. ‘He has a gun. He’s trying to shoot us’ she said. We think that night she was scared for her life,” Snook said.

*”If he was trying to shoot them, you would have heard shots being fired on the tape,” Bompadre interjected. “Their testimony does not establish that he did it or had intent to do it. That tape is not enough to sustain the charges.”*

*Hunter was not swayed by Bompadre’s argument and ruled for all of Freed’s charges to be bound over. She also denied a request to reduce Freed’s bail.*

Freed remains in the Mifflin County Correctional Facility in lieu of $200,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in the Mifflin County Court of Common Pleas on March 28.