Jan 25, 2023 3 min read

A Greene County man is accused of pointing a loaded handgun at another person inside the parking garage connected to the Westmoreland Mall casino near Greensburg while it was packed with patrons during its New Year’s Eve celebration.

Samuel David Smith, 55, of Washington Township, was charged by state police last week following the incident in the early hours of Jan. 1 in the parking garage next to Live! Casino along Route 30 in Hempfield Township.

Police said Smith and a woman were leaving the casino and apparently saw another couple arguing when he made eye contact with the other man, prompting them to exchange words. As the argument between the men escalated, the women who were with them tried to “diffuse the situation” and pull them away from each other, police said.

Smith then went to his minivan that was parked nearby and pulled out a handgun before allegedly pointing it at the 23-year-old Greensburg man while walking toward him, police said. The couple hid behind their vehicle as Smith approached them, according to a witness who told investigators that she was “frightened” by the incident and ran into the casino to get help.

When troopers arrived, they found the loaded handgun in the rear console inside Smith’s van, according to court documents. Smith admitted at the scene that he had gotten into an argument with the other man and that he possessed a handgun, but he declined to speak with investigators about the incident, police said.

The other man spoke to police and told them “people should not pull guns out” but he gave few other details about what transpired and told investigators he did not want them to file charges. But investigators wrote in court documents that the incident occurred during a busy time at the casino with the New Year’s Eve celebrations happening, prompting them to file charges against Smith.

“It should be noted that this occurred on New Year’s Day in the early morning hours while the casino and adjoining property still had numerous patrons present,” police wrote in the charging documents.

Police allowed Smith to leave the casino, but charged him on Jan. 18 with misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, along with summary offenses of carrying a loaded weapon and public drunkenness. Investigators said they later found his concealed carry permit through the Greene County Sheriff’s Office expired in August.

Smith, who has not been arraigned on the charges, is free while awaiting his preliminary hearing before District Judge Scott Fanchalsky at 9:30 a.m. March 17. No attorney is listed for him in online court documents.

The other man involved in the incident was not charged.