City police found weapons, ammunition and a smoke grenade in a North Sumner Avenue man's home after arresting him for threatening his girlfriend with a handgun Tuesday night, police said.
Ralph E. Metzgar, 27, Rear 1420 N. Sumner Ave., had a loaded handgun in his pocket when officers arrested him outside his home shortly after 11 p.m.
That came after officers found Mr. Metzgar's girlfriend, Keilah Lameo, at Wood Street and North Decker Court, where she reported that Mr. Metzgar had choked her and stuffed her cellphone into her mouth after she said she would call police when he refused to leave their home, police said.
During the incident, Mr. Metzgar pulled out a handgun and told Ms. Lameo "now you're a hostage," according to a criminal complaint.
Ms. Lameo ran out of the home while Mr. Metzgar retrieved ammunition for the gun.
Ms. Lameo was not familiar with the gun Mr. Metzgar pointed at her but told police she knew he had several other weapons in the home.
A search of the residence with Ms. Lameo's permission after Mr. Metzgar's arrest yielded a "military-style bag" that held a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun, a handgun, six knifes, various ammunition and a smoke grenade, police said.
Officers also found a single-shot shotgun in a bedroom closet in addition to the pistol in Mr. Metzgar's pocket, which he owned and had a valid permit to carry, according to the complaint.
The legal status of the other weapons was not clear on Wednesday.
Mr. Metzgar was charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, simple assault, false imprisonment and prohibited offensive weapon for the smoke grenade and the sawed-off shotgun.
He was sent to the Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $20,000 bail and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday.
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