Two suspects in a Three Rivers home invasion faced a preliminary examination hearing before 3B District Judge Robert Pattison on Tuesday afternoon. The hearing was held to provide preliminary witness testimony and determine what charges the suspects will face at trial. Those suspects, Amber Carpenter and Alexander Zuchnik, were largely silent while victims answered attorneys’ questions and described what happened in the early hours of Sunday July 19. A third suspect, Nicholas Mastos, was not present.

Attorney for the prosecution Deborah Davis brought forth five witnesses who were in the home on South Constantine Street on the night of the invasion. They included two guests who were outside preparing to leave when the suspects approached the house, as well as the homeowner, his younger sister, and a friend, who were all inside sleeping or preparing to go to sleep. Attorneys Don Smith, representing Zuchnik, and Laurie Hines, representing Carpenter, asked additional questions of the witnesses.

The invasion took place at the conclusion of a party to celebrate two attendees’ birthdays. According to Tuesday’s testimony, the three suspects approached the house just as two guests were preparing to enter a car belonging to one of them and leave the party. As they approached, the suspects were yelling, “who raped my homey,” and were wielding weapons. The guests reported seeing Zuchnik carrying a gun and Carpenter carrying an aluminum baseball bat, while Mastos carried what appeared to be a hunting knife.

According to testimony, the suspects confronted the guests, repeating their questions and asking to be let inside the house while Carpenter held the bat “in the air” and Zuchnik pointed the gun at one of the guests. The victims said the guests appeared to be intoxicated.

After a few minutes, the two male suspects threatened to shoot out the car’s windows if the guests threatened to leave. Carpenter handed the bat to Zuchnik, who headed toward the rear of the house with Mastos while Carpenter headed toward the front door. At that point, the two guests said, Carpenter told them they could leave if they “didn’t have anything to do with it,” but warned them not to call the police.

The two guests drove away and called the police from two blocks away. One of the two guests testified that both of them had each had two drinks earlier but had taken breathalyzer tests prior to exiting the house. Upon questioning by Smith, both guests affirmed they were able to positively identify Zuchnik and Carpenter despite Zuchnik’s having worn a surgical mask during the invasion.

Inside the house, the homeowner’s sister said she was sleeping on the sofa adjacent to the front door when Carpenter began banging on the door and shining a light through its window and demanding to be let in. The sister assumed the commotion was coming from drunk partygoers in the neighborhood until she heard Zuchnik and Mastos break in through the kitchen door, continuing to yell about an alleged rape.

The sister testified that Zuchnik and Mastos headed for the basement stairs. When she looked down the stairs, she saw the two male suspects facing away from her. One was wielding a gun and a bat. The homeowner subsequently confirmed that this was Zuchnik. The sister returned to the main floor living room to wake up another brother as well as one of the brother’s friends.

The homeowner was in his basement bedroom with his girlfriend, while another friend was in a second living room in the basement between the bedroom and the stairwell. Hearing the commotion, the homeowner exited the bedroom, whereupon he said Zuchnik pointed the gun at him in one hand while still holding the bat in the other. Zuchnik demanded again to know “who raped my homey,” motioning toward Mastos and repeating the demand several times. Mastos continued to hold the knife by his side, the homeowner said.

In his testimony, the homeowner said he repeatedly told Zuchnik and Mastos he didn’t know what they were talking about, and said, “I will help you find them. Please leave my home. It wasn’t anybody here.” After a few minutes, he said, the two suspects appeared to believe him, and went back up the stairs, which Zuchnik saying to Mastos, “Come on, Nick, let’s get out of here.”

The homeowner said he followed the suspects to the kitchen door. He said they told him, “we’ll be back,” and he locked the door behind them as they left. The homeowner’s girlfriend called the police. When Three Rivers Police Department (TRPD) officers arrived, they showed the homeowner that the suspects had broken a lock and damaged the jamb on a side door on the garage, which they had used to access the kitchen entry.

TRPD K9 Django traced the suspects to their home a short distance away, and officers apprehended them. The following day, Monday, July 20, they were released on bond. They were arrested again on July 21 for violating their bond after threatening the victims outside their home. They were released from jail again after meeting a new, higher bond. The victims who testified on Tuesday all said they had never met the suspects prior to the invasion incident and did not know anything about Mastos’ alleged rape.

Davis is seeking to make binding charges against Carpenter and Zuchnik for first degree home invasion. In addition, she seeks several counts each of felonious assault with a deadly weapon against both suspects. She also seeks charges of conspiracy to commit home invasion and conspiracy to commit felonious assault charges and an obstruction of justice charge for the threats not to leave or call the police against the guests outside the house.

Lastly, Davis seeks a felony in possession of a firearm charge against Zuchnik, who she said was convicted of a felony drug possession last fall and is therefore ineligible to have carried the revolver. The weapons charges also include an upgrade from a pneumatic weapon to an actual firearm, based on the victim’s testimony that the gun was a revolver.

Tuesday’s hearing overran available court staff time, so Pattison scheduled a continuation for Friday, August 28 at 3:00 p.m., at which time Smith and Hines will make their closing summary arguments about the charges against Carpenter and Zuchnik.

In his closing comments, Pattison raised questions about whether law precedent will allow some of the charges against Carpenter to stand, including the assault charges. Pattison said the testimony did not make clear whether Carpenter held the bat in a threatening manner outside the house. Davis must research precedent through other court cases that establish the legality of her charge. She will present her arguments on that legality on Friday.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.