Two Washington men to stand trial in attempted homicide case
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Richard Lacks Jr., front, and Keith Rosario are escorted into Washington County Courthouse for a hearing in October 2017.
Observer-Reporter
Keith Anthony Rosario is escorted into the Washington County Courthouse in this October 2017 file photo.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter Richard Lacks Jr. is escorted into the Washington County Courthouse on Thursday October 12
The survivor of a shooting in South Franklin Township testified Thursday and described being led down a path through the woods and kneeling beside a body of water before he heard a gunshot.
The bullet hit Marcus Stancik, 30, just below the base of his skull and was still there Thursday when he testified during the preliminary hearing of two men charged with kidnapping and trying to kill him Sept. 5.
Stancik said he then heard the clicking sound of someone pulling a trigger without a gun firing.
“I could tell he was trying to unjam the gun,” he said.
He jumped into the water to escape the shooter, whom he identified from the stand as 26-year-old Keith Rosario of Washington.
District Judge Ethan Ward held attempted homicide, kidnapping and other charges against Rosario and his co-defendant Richard D. Lacks, 23, also of Washington.
Trooper Zachary Webb of Troop B in Washington testified he and another trooper responded to a report of what the female caller believed was a gunshot followed by a male voice saying he was shot near Cove Road.
Webb said he could hear someone calling for help and what sounded like footsteps in the nearby reservoir.
As he made his way through the woods toward the water, he spotted Stancik, who identified himself and said he had been shot, “completely nude and standing in the water” about 30 feet from the bank.
Called by Assistant District Attorney Jerry Moschetta, Stancik testified he stripped naked because he was afraid he would drown if he stayed dressed.
Webb testified Stancik said “Sin” had shot him. Webb said he recognized the nickname and asked Stancik if he meant Rosario. Webb said Stancik answered, “Yes, yes, Keith Rosario.”
Stancik was treated for his gunshot wound at the scene and flown by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He acknowledged he could only pick one man – who was in the vehicle with Lacks and Rosario but is not charged – from photographs investigators showed him at the hospital.
Webb said Stancik said at the scene he “believed this happened because, quote, they had accused him of stealing a gun.”
Stancik testifed he was homeless when he met Lacks outside a West Chestnut Street convenience store about two weeks before the shooting and asked Lacks for money. Stancik accompanied his new acquaintance back to a house at 449 Ewing Street and would “make runs” to sell cocaine for Lacks. He sometimes spent the night in the home. Stancik also met Rosario, who frequented the home and sometimes slept there. His relationship with the others soured when a 9-mm handgun went missing – which Stancik had seen in the house along with .22- and .40-caliber handguns – even though he insisted he did not take the weapon. Stancik said he left on a “run” with a few hundred dollars’ worth of cocaine and didn’t come back.
“I didn’t return for fear of my life,” Stancik told Herbert Terrell, Rosario’s attorney, under cross-examination.
A few days later, Stancik said he encountered Lacks outside a beer distributor. Lacks allegedly tried to get Stancik to get in the Land Rover he and another man Stancik recognized from the Ewing Street house arrived in. Stancik refused, and Lacks drove off. Stancik said he was walking near Broad Street and Baird Avenue when Lacks drove up in a van. Lacks and Rosario allegedly forced Stancik into the backseat of the vehicle between Rosario and the fourth man he had seen in the Land Rover, who Stancik testified “never touched me” and who is not charged in the shooting.
Stancik’s shirt was placed over his head “like a bag,” but he ascertained they stopped nearby the Ewing Street house and heard Rosario tell Lacks to “get the deuce” – meaning the .22-caliber handgun – from inside. They then drove him to the wooded area. He testified Rosario was the only one who got out of the vehicle “as far as I know.”
Stancik at one point offered an opinion of Lacks’ role without prompting by any question.
“I think that some of the things that Richie did were out of fear,” Stancik said.
The day after the shooting, Lacks was taken into custody at the Ewing Street house, which Trooper Thomas Kress, who filed charges against the men, testified was known to authorities as Rosario’s address. Kress said Rosario was taken into custody outside a house on Addison Street where he’s also known to stay at times.
A .40-caliber handgun, which was reported stolen in Charleroi, was allegedly found during a search of the Ewing Street house behind a chest or dresser in the basement.
Stancik also admitted he was confused about the vehicle in which he was driven to Cove Road, He said that night it was a blue van, possibly a Dodge. On the stand, he admitted he wasn’t sure of the exact color or make.
Kress said investigators did seize a blue Dodge Caravan but “did not find anything of evidentiary value” when they searched it.
Rosario and Lacks are also charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy and person not to possess a firearm. Lacks also faces a charge of receiving stolen property. Rosario’s bond is set at $2 million; Lacks’ at $1 million. Both men are also being held on detainers in Washingotn County jail.