Motion made to file additional charges against Lopez
Published: February 9, 2012
The prosecution in the case against a Barton man accused of threatening an Athens store owner with a machete in September has requested that two additional charges be filed against him.
The Bradford County district attorney's office has filed a motion to amend the charges against Michael O. Lopez, 34, in the Bradford County Court of Common Pleas, according to court information. A hearing to discuss the motion is scheduled for Tuesday.
According to the motion, filed Feb. 6 and signed by first assistant district attorney Albert C. Ondrey, the commonwealth wishes to reinstate a charge of ethnic intimidation that was dismissed in magisterial district court during Lopez's preliminary hearing.
The motion states that magisterial district judge Michael Shaw had interpreted the law to mean that racial motivation must be the sole impetus for an ethnic intimidation charge. However, according to the motion, the district attorney's office does not believe this to be the case.
The motion argues that evidence supports the addition of the charge. According to a criminal affidavit filed by Athens Borough police, Lopez and Justin D. Reese, 19, of Lockwood, N.Y., made statements that they were members of a group called the "NATO Army" and hated people from Pakistan and other foreign countries.
In the motion, Ondrey also requests that a charge of misdemeanor simple assault be added against Lopez. "Simple assault is generally a lesser included offense of aggravated assault," the motion states.
Lopez and Reese face charges of aggravated assault, attempted murder, reckless endangerment, terroristic threats and disorderly conduct in their upcoming trials. Police said that on Sept. 3, the men threatened employees of Horn's True Value in Sayre. The next day, police say Lopez and Reese threatened an employee of the Athens Express convenience store on North Main Street in Athens Borough with a machete and made death threats toward him. The two incidents are being tried as one case, according to a notice filed with the court.
Beyond Tuesday's scheduled motion hearing, both Lopez and Reese have pre-trial conferences scheduled for Feb. 21, according to court information.
Amanda Renko can be reached at (570) 888-9652; or email: arenko@thedailyreview.com.