A West Scranton man pointed a loaded gun at another man during a dispute over a car sale, according to a criminal complaint.
Orel Cohen, 29, of 106 S. Keyser Ave., is facing charges of making terroristic threats, assault and recklessly endangering another person.
According to the criminal complaint:
At about 11 a.m. on May 9, Taylor police officers were called to 11 S. Keyser Ave. for the report of a man with a firearm.
When officers arrived, Saiteja Parvathaneni said an employee from the auto sales business there, later identified as Orel Cohen, had pointed a gun at him.
The police complaint did not specifically identify the name of the business.
Cohen had left the area in a Toyota Corolla with no registration plate.
Parvathaneni told officers he had contacted someone named Chris on Facebook regarding the purchase of a vehicle at the Keyser Avenue location.
He told officers he arrived at the car lot at about 4:30 p.m. on May 8 to test drive the vehicle the two had agreed on. He spoke with an employee and agreed to pay $2,900 for the car.
Parvathaneni told the employee he was purchasing the vehicle for a friend. The employee indicated he would need that friend’s identification in order to transfer the vehicle to the friend.
Parvathaneni said he attempted to transfer the vehicle to his friend’s name at a local title transfer business, but couldn’t because the car didn’t have a tag on it.
The next day, Parvathaneni found out that there were problems with the car and went back to the car lot where he had purchased it, but there was no one there.
After several minutes, the employee who had sold him the car pulled into the property in a Toyota Corolla. Parvathaneni told the employee he was having issues with the title, but the employee refused to speak with him.
He then attempted to contact the car lot owner, identified in court papers as “Chris,” but the number was blocked, as was his Facebook access.
Parvathaneni was ultimately able to get in touch with Chris and the two discussed getting him into a different vehicle.
Parvathaneni did not like the vehicles offered and the two went to “Chris’s friend’s place” at 9 S. Keyser Ave.
When he indicated he didn’t want another vehicle but just wanted his money back. an employee, later identified as Cohen, pointed a gun at him and said, “If you come here, I have a gun.”
Officers searched the area for the employee who had left the scene and spotted him driving out of a parking lot at 1000 S. Keyser Ave. Police were able to identify the driver as Cohen. Police stopped the vehicle at 711 S. Keyser Ave. and took Cohen into custody.
Officers obtained a search warrant for 9 S. Keyser Ave. and found a loaded silver firearm in the bottom left drawer of the desk there.
Cohen is free on $25,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. on May 19 before District Judge Alyce Farrell.