Nov 12, 2018 2 min read

A Meadow Lands resident awakened early Sunday by the sound of banging on his door held a Washington man at gunpoint until Chartiers Township police arrived to take the alleged prowler into custody.

Anthony Michael Buchanan, 24, of 689 N. Main St., had a pistol pointed at him by a resident of Hallam Avenue.

Police were called just before 4 a.m. to the 400 block of Pike Street in Meadow Lands for a report of someone knocking on the front and back doors of a residence. When the officer arrived, he checked the inside of that home.

After checking, the officer could hear yelling coming from the rear alley. As Officer Patrick Conley ran toward the noise, he heard a man yell “Call 911.” Conley crossed over Church Alley and saw a light on in the garage attached to a home in the 400 block of Hallam.

Conley noticed that it appeared a door in the garage had been forced open. He saw a man with a gun pointed at the corner of the garage, telling the intruder “Don’t move.”

When Conley announced his presence and entered, the resident lowered his gun and told the officer that the man, later identified as Buchanan, had broken into his house. Buchanan was found in the corner of the garage in a squatting position with his hands raised above his head. He was taken into custody.

The homeowner told police he and his wife were asleep in their bedroom when they heard a loud bang. He said he grabbed his pistol and went to investigate and found the entry door to his garage forced open and found the intruder hiding in the corner.

Buchanan was intoxicated and sobbing, police stated in court documents.

Buchanan was arraigned before District Judge Curtis Thompson on charges of criminal trespass, loitering and prowling at night, criminal mischief and public drunkenness. He was placed in Washington County jail on $35,000 bond. Buchanan is scheduled for a Nov. 20 preliminary hearing before District Judge David Mark.