UNIONTOWN, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A war history buff faces a felony charge for accidentally firing a 2-pound (1-kilogram) cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home.
Fifty-four-year-old William Maser had been charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. Authorities on Thursday added a felony count of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure. Also Thursday, Maser waived his right to a preliminary hearing on all the charges. Maser has acknowledged firing a homemade cannon outside his house in Georges Township, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh, in early September.
The cannonball, about 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter, ricocheted and hit the neighbor's home about 400 meters away, smashing through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. Police say nobody was hurt.
October 22, 2009
