Hearing scheduled for Dry Tavern man charged in 2017 incident

WAYNESBURG – State police recently filed charges against a Rices Landing man for his involvement in a shooting incident that occurred nearly a year ago at a Jefferson Township residence which resulted in dozens of police officers responding to the scene.
John Pochran III, 31, is facing charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, recklessly endangering another person and resisting arrest.
The charges were filed before Magisterial District Judge D. Glenn Bates on March 29 following the state police’s investigation of the incident that occurred at Pochron’s residence on North Eighty-Eight Road in Rices Landing last May.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Bates’ office, police responded to North Eighty-Eight Road at 12:05 p.m. May 30, 2017 to investigate a report of an unknown male shooting a semi-automatic rifle from a roof top within the area.
State police met with Cumberland Township police, who established a perimeter around Pochron’s residence after an officer first heard shooting and then observed Pochron shooting several rounds into his house from the roof; the officer then observed Pochron jump from the roof and run across Route 88 carrying a female who was later identified as Holly Bercosky on his back, the complaint states.
The officer then told state police that Pochron was “irate, combative and uncooperative” and had to be “Tazered” in order to be placed under arrest; while conducting a search on Pochron, police found him to be in possession of suspected crack cocaine and a crack pipe, the complaint states.
State police then conducted an interview with Pochron, who reported that he and Bercosky were inside the house when five or six individuals broke in and demanded money; Pochron told police that the robbers “had blood red eyes” and were dressed like ninjas, except for one robber, who was dressed like “Deadpool,” the Marvel comic book character, the complaint states.
Pochron then told police that the “heavily armed ninjas” chased the couple to the upstairs bedroom, where he began to fire the AR 15; however, he said he was unsure if he had hit any of them, the complaint states.
Pochron then reported that he exited the house from a window and stepped onto the roof where he continued to engage the would-be robbers, and added that he and his girlfriend “did do some cocaine” the night before and into the morning but was “absolutely telling the truth” regarding the robbers, who he said were still in the house, the complaint states.
The residence was later entered by members of the Pennsylvania State Police Special Emergency Response Team, which yielded no intruders or signs of a break-in; however, multiple bullet holes were found inside the residence.
Police said Pochran and Bercosky were later taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation.
Following the incident, police said the matter was being reviewed by the Greene County District Attorney’s office for potential criminal charges against Pochran and Bercosky.
No one was injured in the incident, police said.
During the incident, the Jefferson-Morgan and Carmichaels Area school districts were placed in lockdown and nearby residences and businesses were evacuated.
Police said the confiscated suspect cocaine was later sent to the Greensburg Regional Laboratory to be analyzed and was later confirmed to be 0.71 grams of cocaine, the complaint states.
Following the nearly year-long investigation, Pochran was formally arraigned on the charges before Bates on April 3. His preliminary hearing has been tentatively scheduled to be held before Bates on April 17. He is free on $15,000 unsecured bail.
According to court records, Bercosky has not been charged with anything regarding the incident.