A western New York man has been accused of dealing with a neighborly dispute by rattling
nearby houses with blasts from his Civil War replica cannon.
The barrage, heard miles away, eventually led to an arrest and confiscation
of the cannon, which apparently was firing charges but no cannon balls. Powder
charges are held in place by wads of paper or foil.
“We had reports from people that had heard the cannon go off,” explained
County Sheriff Joseph A. Gerace.
On Wednesday, after several days of the racket, sheriff’s deputies went
to Brian
J. Malta’s home in Kiantone, south of Jamestown. Accused of firing a
replica Civil War cannon toward a neighbor property, 52-year-old
Malta was charged with three misdemeanor counts of menacing and
three violation counts of harassment. He is free on $2,500 bail.
“It’s a civil matter,” Gerace said, declining to comment further on its
nature. It is not illegal to own a cannon in New York State, but this one is now
being held as evidence by the Sheriff’s Office, a first for Gerace in terms of
confiscated weapons. “I don’t recall, during my 34-year career, taking a cannon,” he said.
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