A Throop man threatened to rip out his stepfather’s heart and his mother’s gallbladder during a tirade against his family on Monday, according to a criminal complaint.
Borough police charged Shawn Anthony Festa, 49, of 309 Sanderson St., with three counts of making terroristic threats.
At about 5:30 p.m., officers responded to the 700 block of George Street after receiving neighbors’ reports of Festa yelling, “I’m going to kill you.”
Officers spoke with Mike Perry, who asked them to remove Festa, his stepson, from the property. Police then spoke with Donna Perry, who said she didn’t know what got into her son.
As officers were speaking with the Perrys, they heard a combative male, later identified as Festa, yelling and jumping into a pool.
When Officer William Hazelton approached Festa, Festa became increasingly belligerent and threatened to rip his stepfather’s heart out, unleash a Doberman on him, and rip out his mother’s gallbladder and kill her.
Family members told officers that Festa, who had been in and out of rehab, had been drinking. They worried he would come back to the residence and harm them.
As he was being transported to headquarters, Festa taunted police, saying that he was going to have “pigs in a blanket” and kill Officer Hazelton.
Once in a holding cell, Festa continued to spit on officers and threatened to kill their families.
District Judge Joanne Corbett denied Festa bail at his preliminary arraignment later Monday evening. He remains at Lackawanna County Prison.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 10 before Corbett.