Despite being in jail on gun, assault and drug charges, 34-year-old Michael Cepeda was still able to cause problems in Bristol Township.
According to police, Michael Cepeda was arrested in the early morning hours of Monday on Arthur Avenue after officers responded to a call that the suspect threatened to kill a woman he lives with. The woman told police Cepeda fired off rounds the previous night, court documents state.
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When police arrived, they reported to have learned Cepeda had fled his Arthur Avenue home with a loaded handgun in his grey VW Passat.
Police were able to stop the Passat at New Falls Road and Route 413, discovering a black 9mm Taurus handgun loaded with 13 rounds of hollow-point ammunition, according to a probable cause affidavit. Officers also reported Cepeda did not have a permit to carry and was in possession of a small amount of marijuana.
Following his arrest and incarceration in county jail, police were alerted by the woman that family members of Cepeda began harassing her by asking where she was and demanding to give them the key to her residence, police said.
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“You better answer your phone or else,” was heard on one of the messages, the affidavit states.
The woman told investigators she began to fear for her safety.
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While responding to the harassment call, officers turned away two woman from the Arther Avenue home. The women identified themselves as Cepeda’s mother and sister, police said.
The domestic situation all began, police say, when the woman confronted the 34-year-old about the previous night when he came home intoxicated and “fired a few shots down the street and said he was angry and wanted to fight.” The suspect, according to the woman, next waved his gun around the room as the woman sat on the bed. He fired a round into the window trim above her head, police said.
Authorities were told by the woman that she left the house she shared with Cepeda and stayed at a friend’s house after the gunfire.
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Just before police were called on Monday, Cepeda was confronted by the woman living with him. He asked her to leave and stated he would kill her if she did not go, a handgun sat next to him the entire time, police said. The woman told police she then ran outside and called 911.
For the initial gun call, Cepeda was charged with carrying firearm without a license, reckless endangerment, simple assault, terroristic threats and several other charges. He was arraigned Monday morning before District Justice Joanne Kline and sent to jail on 10 percent of $50,000 bail.
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On Wednesday, just two days after his last time before Kline, he appeared on a single charge of intimidation of a witness or victim and returned to jail on 10 percent of $100,000 bail.
