Authorities charged a Pennsylvania man with aggravated assault for allegedly throwing pumpkins at an elderly woman while she was parked outside of his home on October 20.
According to court documents, 40-year-old James Gazis was arrested for the alleged incident on October 20 and has been charged with “aggravated assault” and “propulsion of missiles.”
The incident allegedly took place on October 20, when grandmother Robin Faulkner was reportedly waiting to pick up her grandchild in the Bloomfield area of Pittsburgh, according to WPXI.
The Washington Examiner has obtained a criminal complaint regarding the case:
A criminal complaint obtained by the Washington Examiner said Gazis’s wife, Melissa, shouted that an elderly woman had almost hit her and their child as they were crossing the street and that the woman should park elsewhere. Gazis then came outside and tossed a white pumpkin, which hit the car windshield.
The Examiner reports, “Gazis then threw a ‘bigger orange pumpkin’ through the car window, subsequently hitting the woman’s head, the criminal complaint said.”
Officer Ross Patton said in the criminal complaint that Faulkner was holding a towel over her left eye and head and claimed to be bleeding from the nose, according to the Washington Examiner. She also reported a headache, according to the outlet.
The victim’s son James Moore recounted the incident to WXPI:
“She put her window down and looked up at the gentleman, and said ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ and he took the second pumpkin, threw it, it went through the window that was already down, hit her in the face,” Moore told the outlet. “She wears glasses, [the impact] knocked the glasses into her nose, causing a cut.”
Moore, who lives nearby, told WXPI that his panicked mother called him after the alleged incident, and he quickly ran out.
“She was shaking, she was holding her face, and she said, ‘this man just threw a pumpkin at me, he just threw a pumpkin at me, call 911, call 911,'” Moore told WXPI. Moore then allegedly confronted the man, which led to a physical altercation, according to the outlet. Neighbors allegedly helped put an end to the fight, WXPI reports.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by the Washington Examiner, Gazis sustained abrasions on his feet and a minor cut to his hand.
WXPI reports that Moore was charged with simple assault for his role in the fight. “I felt bad for how things happened but at the same time, that’s still my elderly mother,” he told the outlet.
“Officer Ross Patton was contacted by Detective Bryner, who had watched the surveillance footage from the city, and informed Patton that Melissa Gazis and her child ‘did not appear’ to have been in any danger of being hit by Faulkner, the criminal complaint said,” the Washington Examiner reports.
Gazis was arraigned on October 21 and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 10, according to court documents.