A Delhi man who was arrested after a New Year’s Eve standoff with Delhi Village Police was indicted on several gun possession, drug and menacing charges by a Delaware County Grand Jury on Thursday.
During a press conference Friday, Delhi Police Chief Michael Mills talked about the standoff, the arrest and what was found in the apartment after a search warrant was obtained. The police were called to 35 Main Street at 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve for a domestic incident between a mother and her son, Paul M. Fontana Jr., after Fontana threatened to harm his mother and other people in the building. During the phone call to 911, it was mentioned Fontana, 37 had a loaded semiautomatic rifle described as an AR 15 rifle.
“That was a pretty concerning incident,” Mills said. The village called for backup and the sheriff’s office, State University Police, State Police, Colchester and Walton Village police departments responded to help assess the situation. “We’re a pretty rural community and we have to work together on these types of things,” he said.
The police officers evacuated the building, which has between five and six other apartments, he said. The residents, some who were celebrating the holiday, were evacuated from the building while the officers worked together to find ways to get Fontana out of the second-floor apartment without causing harm to officers and Fontana.
“We had a lot of obstacles to overcome,” Mills said, including the layout of the building, which has narrow hallways. The officers tried to reach Fontana via cellphone, social media “as well as yelling down the hall to see if he would open some lines of communication with us,” he said.
After a while it seemed that Fontana had fallen asleep, so it was decided to enter the apartment, Mills said. The officers entered the apartment and took Fontana into custody without any injuries. Fontana was transported to a crisis unit.
“While we made this entry we also made a lot of observations,” Mills said. “A lot of these things were out in plain view. Rifles, handguns, high capacity magazines, so we realized pretty quickly that we had a bigger situation even than we had before.”
The department secured a search warrant for the apartment, which resulted in 26 of the 27 indictments the grand jury unsealed Thursday.
District Attorney Shawn Smith outlined each of the charges during the press conference. Fontana was charged with second-degree menacing, a class A misdemeanor, for allegedly displaying a loaded firearm with the intention of placing someone else in fear of physical injury or death.
“Count two is the most serious count of the indictment,” Smith said. Fontana was charged with first-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class B violent felony, a media release said. Fontana, a convicted felon, was allegedly found to be in possession of more than 10 firearms. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in state prison.
The third and fourth count charged Fontana with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, class C violent felonies, for possessing two loaded firearms — a pistol and assault rifle — with the intent to use them unlawfully against another, the release said. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in state prison.
Counts five through fourteen each charged Fontana with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. It is alleged Fontana possessed five firearm silencers, two large capacity magazines — one 60 round clip and one 30 round clip, and other firearms that have had their serial numbers removed. Fontana faces 3 1/2 to seven years in state prison if convicted of any one of those charges, Smith said.
Counts 15 through 26 each charged Fontana with criminal manufacture, sale or transport of an undetectable firearm, class D violent felonies. It is alleged Fontana used a 3D printer to make firearm components. These components would evade detection by metal detectors or x-ray type machines used at airports, Smith said.
After the conference Smith said the village police test fired some of the 3-D printed guns to make sure they worked.
The last count of the indictment charged Fontana with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class B drug felony. Fontana is accused of possessing a quantity of narcotics with the intention of selling them, along with scales and “cutting agents.”
Sheriff Craig DuMond said Fontana was a “habitual felon with a lengthy criminal record possessing 10 or more firearms at once. He defaced assault weapons, rifles, pistols. He had in his possession large capacity magazines, silencers, manufactured weapons, parts with out serial numbers, ghost guns. Ghost guns are specifically designed to be attractive to traffickers and people who cannot pass a background check. As a convicted felon, you’re not passing a background check.”
Fontana was being held without bail at the Delaware County Correctional Facility.