A Taneytown business owner is facing five charges in Carroll County District Court after police say he threatened a store clerk with a handgun during a dispute over money.
Joseph W. Delvecchio, owner of Memory Lane Antique Market on East Baltimore Street in Taneytown, has been charged with illegal possession of a firearm, firearm possession with a felony conviction, using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, second-degree assault and first-degree assault in the incident.
Delvecchio, 63, who posted a $10,000 bond on Aug. 28, will have a preliminary hearing in district court on Sept. 27, according to court papers. Delvecchio could not be reached for comment Friday.
According to charging documents, on Aug. 27, at approximately 6:46 p.m., Maryland State Police were contacted by the Taneytown Police Department and were told that a first-degree assault occurred at the Memory Lane Antique Market. State troopers were told there was a person inside the antique market with a gun. When troopers arrived they contacted the antique vendors inside, who told police that Delvecchio had pulled a handgun on a store clerk during a dispute about money.
Police searched Delvecchio, but did not find a handgun. They obtained search warrants for Memory Lane, which occupies two store fronts, and Delvecchio’s 2002 Dodge Ram pickup truck. Police found a silver Harrington & Richardson Arms 5-shot revolver in the truck’s glove compartment, according to charging documents.
Witnesses told police that Delvecchio entered through the front door yelling that he had a gun and then pulled out a silver pistol and yelled that he could “blow this place away,” according to charging documents. Another witness told police that he saw Delvecchio take out a gun from his waist and say, “I need my money.”
According to charging documents, Delvecchio was advised by the Maryland State Police Gun Center that he was prohibited from owning firearms due to a conviction in April 1987 in Baltimore County.