Officials believe shooting may have been accident
MONESSEN – Westmoreland County prosecutors said a shooting last month that injured a Charleroi man inside a Rostraver Township apartment might have been an accident, and a tentative plea agreement has been reached. Township police charged Charles Edward Dickerson, 33, of 221 Delaware Ave., Monessen, with criminal attempt to commit homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and firearms not to be carried without a license.
Dickerson waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Friday before District Justice Joseph Dalphonso.
The victim, Bradley Shawn Barcus, 29, of 424 Oakland Ave., was present Friday, but left soon after news about the agreement began to circulate.
The case will be forwarded to Common Pleas Court where a judge will consider approving the plea agreement, said Dickerson’s defense attorney Mark Shire.
Assistant District Attorney Heidi Norton said Dickerson would be released from custody Friday on a nominal bond.
He had been incarcerated in the Westmoreland County Detention Center since his arrest on the day of the shooting in lieu of $500,000 cash bond.
Norton declined to reveal terms of the plea agreement, since it has not yet been presented in court.
“There is an agreement,” Norton said. “There is evidence it may have been an accident, which led to the agreement.”
“Every witness who was there said it was an accident,” Shire said.
“There was no intent to shoot the gun,” Shire said.
He said Dickerson and Barcus were in an apartment kitchen, at 102 Mathews Road shortly before 2 a.m. March 14, when Dickerson dropped the gun. It fired when it hit the floor and the bullet struck Barcus.
Township police Sgt. Raymond J. Dugan said one round from a .22-caliber handgun hit Barcus in the chin or neck area.
Police said Barcus was found bleeding and propped up against a wall in a hallway just outside the apartment.
He was flown by emergency helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh where he underwent surgery for what police termed a life-threatening injury. Barcus remained in the hospital for at least a week.
Dugan said the victim was interviewed in the hospital and identified Dickerson as the shooter, and Dickerson also gave police a statement in which he implicated himself.
A Davis Industries .22-caliber handgun was recovered from the scene.
Dugan also noted in an affidavit that Dickerson had been wanted on a bench warrant for failing to appear for a parole violation hearing.
Cathy Anthony, a witness who said the incident took place in her daughter’s apartment, said Dickerson and Barcus were good friends and were not fighting when the gun discharged.
She said Dickerson brought the gun into the apartment, placed it on a kitchen counter and accidentally knocked it to the floor, causing the weapon to fire.
“Chuckie’s not that kind of person,” Anthony said.