Former councilman accused of issuing threats
MASONTOWN – A former Masontown Borough councilman is facing multiple charges after he allegedly threatened to burn down his daughter’s apartment with her inside. Masontown police said Joseph Volansky, 55, of 511 E. Church Ave., Masontown was charged Monday before Magisterial District Judge Randy S. Abraham with terroristic threats and harassment. According to police, Volansky went to a bar on Main Street in Masontown on June 7 where his daughter, Kristy J. Volansky-Hicks of Masontown, was a patron and called her obscene names.
Police said that Volansky then threatened to “burn her house down with her in it.”
Hicks then asked Volansky to leave the bar but he refused.
He eventually left the bar after an employee asked him to do so.
Police said a witness to the altercation corroborated Hicks’ account of the incident.
A preliminary hearing for Volansky is set for 1:45 p.m. July 16.
Volansky served on the borough council for several terms and was replaced in 2008 after declined to seek re-election.
This is not his first run-in with the law or controversy.
While a councilman in 2005, Volansky was charged with theft after his private construction company failed to complete sidewalk repairs in the borough that he was paid to do by an insurance company. The charge was eventually dropped and the matter was settled out of court.
Also in 2005, Volansky was subject to scrutiny after he allegedly uttered a racial slur at a council meeting.
He was asked to resign on four separate occasions by the Fayette County NAACP.
He maintained that his words were “twisted” and the matter was eventually dropped.