A case againstJames George Bushta, 46, of Effort, was withdrawn during a preliminary hearing on Oct. 14. Magisterial District Judge Colleen Mancuso withdrew charges against Bushta, including two counts of simple assault, one of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, and one for harassment - subjecting other to physical contact, stemming from an incident on July 19. Bushta's original bail for that date was set at $10,000 monetary, but changed on July 29 to unsecured, with a note reading "Defendant needs psychiatric evaluation."

A case against Catherine Marie Coppola, 38, of Effort, was withdrawn during a preliminary hearing on Oct. 21. Magisterial District Judge Colleen Mancuso withdrew nine charges against Coppola, including felony counts of aggravated assault, arson - danger of death or bodily injury, arson - endangering property - reckless endangerment of inhabited buildings, and reckless burning or exploding - places property having value that exceeds $5,000 or automobile/place, with a listed offense date of Sept. 10.Held for courtA preliminary hearing forJoshua D. Pieri, 26, of Stroudsburg, held on Oct. 7 saw the court going forward on three of four charges against Pieri, including terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, simple assault, and harassment, subjecting other to physical contact. One count of simple assault was dismissed. Pieri was charged on Sept. 2, when his girlfriendreported two alleged incidents involving Pieri that took place in late August to Pennsylvania state trooper Tristan L. Bennett at the Monroe County DA's Office.The girlfriend said that on Aug. 25, Pieri grabbed her by the arm and asked her to speak about their relationship in their bedroom. Allegedly, during the conversation Pieri pulled his handgun out of a safe and began to wave it around. She said that her daughter came into the room, asking her mother to leave the home together, and that when the daughter came back to the room, Pieri said, "Don't make me" to her before she left with her mother.The girlfriend also told Bennett that she had arranged to meet with Pieri on Aug. 28 at a park in Sierra View so they could talk. She said that Pieri became "agitated and upset," and left. She said that she sat down at a bench in the park, was grabbed from behindand her head was slammed into the table. She said her right eye was bruised and she was disorientedfor several minutes. She told the state trooper that she did not see who assaulted her, but she did call Pieri to tell him what happened. Pieri allegedly returned to the park after 25 minutes, holding a handgun, and asked if the girlfriend saw who assaulted her, to which she said no. She said that Pieri, with the gun in his hand, told her, "Better not be lying."She also told Bennett that Pieri has "multiple mental disorders," and had previously pushed her out of a moving vehicle, though she did not report that incident out of concern for her and Pieri's safety.Preliminary hearingA preliminary hearing forSteven Peter Braunstein, 54, of Dunmore, held on Oct. 21 resulted in the court pursuing five charges, burglary, terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, simple assault, criminal mischief.On July 1, at 10:02 a.m., a Chestnuthill Township residentreported a burglary in progress at her property. The victim said that she saw Braunstein walk onto her property and cut two tire valve stems on her Infiniti QX-56, and one on her Jeep Patriot, which flattened the tires.She said that Braunstein went to the back ofher residence, removed a pistol from a black duffel bag, and attempted to force open the rear sliding glass door on the house. At this point,she said that she took her family to the basement and barricaded the door. Braunstein allegedly fled the scene at this point, with nothing found during an area search.Waived for courtRodney Eugene Humphrey, 45, of East Stroudsburg, waived his right to a preliminary hearing in regard to charges of materially false written statement and statement under penalty on Oct. 14.Humphrey had attempted to purchase a Taurus 9 mm semi-automatic pistol from Dunkelberger's Sports Outfitters in Chestnuthill Township on Jan. 19. While filling out the required ATF and state police forms, Humphrey incorrectly answered several questions regarding his criminal history. Humphrey had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of simple assault in April 2014, yet denied ever being convicted of a crime in which a judge could imprison the defendant for one year or more on both forms. This incident also came up in another question on the ATF form, relating to whether the applicant had been convicted of domestic violence, to which Humphrey answered no. He also denied being the subject of a protection from abuse order on the ATF form, even though his wifestill held an active PFA against him.Pennsylvania state trooper Christopher Zukowsky contacted Humphrey on June 6, and Humphrey admitted to failing the background check while trying to purchase the gun. He also acknowledged that he was the defendant in an active PFA, though he thought that the order had expired by the time of the attempted firearm purchase.