A Slatington man has been charged with pointing a gun at several people while they attempted to gather personal property from a home.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Anthony Ballerini of the Slatington Police Department in the case against Ryan Filer:

At 9:36 a.m. Monday, Ballerini was dispatched to a home in the 600 block of W. Franklin Street for a report of an armed person.

Ballerini was advised by Lehigh County radio that the man, Filer, 37, had pointed a gun at another man.

Ballerini spoke with three people, two men and a woman, who said that Filer had pointed a gun at them while attempting to gather personal property from the residence.

Ballerini saw Filer to exit the home. He had unholstered his duty weapon and told Filer to stop. Filer complied with Ballerini’s verbal commands, and Ballerini detained Filer.

After speaking with the two men and woman, Ballerini learned that they arrived at the residence to gather one of the men’s personal property with permission from the owner.

The man said while they were taking his belongings out of the house, Filer became aggressive toward them and grabbed what appeared to be a black firearm with a revolver handle, placing it into his waistband area.

The other man said while they were in the upstairs of the home, Filer blocked the stairs leading to the first floor and pulled out the gun from his waistband and pointed it at his chest, stating “I have a bullet for the both of you (expletive).”

Filer told police that the firearm used was only a black lighter that looked like a firearm. Officers on scene were able to obtain the black lighter.

Ballerini showed the lighter to all everyone involved, and they agreed that the lighter obtained was not the firearm that Filer had pulled from his waistband.

The homeowner granted permission to search the residence.

Ballerini found a black metal revolver cap gun in the closet of the bedroom behind multiple storage containers.

The two men and woman said this was the gun used during the incident.

Filer faces charges of terroristic threats, simple assault, and harassment.

Filer is incarcerated in Lehigh County Jail in lieu of $25,000 monetary bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Sept. 5 at Lehigh County Central Court in Allentown.