NEWBERRY TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY, Pa. -- A landlord-tenant dispute turns criminal in York County when police say a man fired a gun.
It happened at a Newberry Township salvage yard on Old Rossville Road Tuesday night.
Newberry Township Police arrested the man who pulled the trigger; they say he was at the salvage yard, watching it for the man who owns the land.
Today, we saw firsthand a man outside watching the property and how contentious this civil battle is.
"You're running this s***t like a f*****g racket!" He's a ****ing corrupt dork. Here's the thing. This isn't even my place. I'm just here to watch," said a man, who tells FOX43 he is being paid to keep an eye on the business on behalf of the man who owns the property, Konstantinos Sgagias.
There is an ongoing civil dispute between Sgagias And Oguejiofor. Eviction proceedings are underway.
"We've had calls of the doors being kicked in," explained Sergeant Keith Farren of Newberry Township Police. "Things being removed, locks being cut off, barricades being put up."
Tuesday night, it wasn't yelling that brought police officers out to the shop on Old Rossville Road.
"It has escalated to the point where one of the employees was armed saw one of the other people, other parties approaching and fired a firearm to ward them off," explained Farren.
Police say the incident brought in authorities from all over York County, the Pennsylvania State Police, even a park ranger.
Police arrested Thomas Davis Junior of Harrisburg after he shot the gun twice that night. Like this man, Davis told police he was watching the business for Sgagias. Davis admitted to police he pulled the trigger to scare people away after Oguejiofor pulled up outside the gates and revved his vehicle's engine.
FOX43 spoke with Oguejiofor's attorney at the salvage yard.
"Are you afraid for the safety of your client and his employees?" asked FOX43's Grace Griffaton.
"I am absolutely concerned about the safety of him and his employees" said Scott Stedjan, Oguejiofor's attorney.
Stedjan claims Oguejiofor and his people are using strong arm tactics to push Oguejiofor out of the business he has operated since 2014.
"The individual on the other side of this dispute has sent his employees to this property to just stand outside and to just go inside and at times just take items from my client," said Stedjan. "The other individual has no right to come in and take those tools and items and over the last couple days he has taken over $100,000 dollars of those tools, including a forklift."
Meanwhile, police say it's out of their hands.
"Because it is in the middle of a civil dispute, it is very hard for us to get involved. We have to do a report. We have to do an investigation, and we've instructed both parties where we stand and the District Attorney's office has informed us where we stand, and we are not to get involved," explained Sergeant Farren.
Nobody was injured when Davis fired the gun Tuesday night.
We reached out to Sgagias' attorney for an interview; however, we have not yet heard back.
Davis is facing charges of reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, and loitering and prowling at night.
