South Franklin man charged with lying to police about father threatening to kill him
A South Franklin man is accused of fabricating a story he told police claiming his father pointed a gun at his head and threatened to kill him.
Jarod Weaver contacted Greene-Washington Regional police Tuesday and told officers that earlier in the day he and his father, George Weaver Jr., got into an argument over a weedwhacker, prompting the elder Weaver to brandish a handgun.
Jarod Weaver claimed that his father pointed a handgun at him and told him he would “put a bullet in his head” after dropping him off at his home in the 2100 block of Park Avenue, and then later promised to return with another man to “finish the job,” according to court documents. He then said his father returned an hour later, driving by in a pickup truck with an unidentified man in the passenger’s seat holding a rifle out of the window.
Greene-Washington Regional police charged George Weaver, 75, of West Alexander, with conspiracy-related counts on charges of aggravated assault, terroristic threats and simple assault in connection with the alleged incident. Police filed identical charges against the supposed John Doe in the pickup truck, listing his name as “Unknown Unknown” in court documents.
But Pennsylvania State Police became involved in the investigation when they interviewed Weaver Jr. about the incident upon arresting him Tuesday night. He admitted to troopers that he had gotten into an argument with his son over a weedwhacker, but that all of his guns were secured inside a safe in his home, and then he provided proof that he never returned to Jarod Weaver’s home in South Franklin, according to court documents.
Troopers then met with Jarod Weaver and confronted him with the new information, in which he then “confessed he lied” to Greene-Washington Regional police about the incident and “made up the story” about his father returning to his home with another man.
State police charged Weaver, 30, with one misdemeanor count of filing a false police report for an offense that did not occur. His preliminary hearing before District Judge John Bruner is tentatively scheduled for July 28 at 11:30 a.m.
Greene-Washington Regional police Chief Will DeForte could not be reached for comment Thursday on whether his department planned to withdraw the charges against George Weaver in light of the new information by state police troopers in their investigation.