Man charged after incident at Rep. Davanzo’s office

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

The Rostraver Township office of state Rep. Eric Davanzo is open for business, but not exactly as usual.

Extra precautions are being taken following an incident Wednesday in which a man reportedly threatened to return to the office with a gun because he was unable to get unemployment benefits, Davanzo said.

“For the time being, we have the door locked,” Davanzo said. “Just knock at the door or maybe call first. We just want to keep everyone safe.”

A West Newton man is being held without bond at Westmoreland County Prison in connection with the incident, which allegedly occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday. 

Raymond Charles Keller, 54, was charged with two counts of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another and two counts of terroristic threats causing serious public inconvenience. He was arraigned Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Jason Buczak.

According to an affidavit, Keller entered Davanzo’s Rostraver office and started yelling that he was “going to get a gun and people are going to know who he is on the news and newspaper.” Keller also allegedly said that if he saw an Afghan walking down the street he would shoot them. According to the affidavit, Keller then stated, “This is ridiculous,” and left the building.

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