Dad goes into rage over melted ice cream, attacks 12-year-old son with knife; police standoff is result (St. Lawrence, Pennsylvania)

Calling dad JAY A. FISHER a bit volatile is a serious understatement. Seems Dad flipped out when his son fell asleep on the sofa with a half-gallon of melted ice cream. Instead of handing the kid some cleaning supplies or grounding him, Dad assaults the boy and throws a knife at him that just misses. Now Daddy's really upset. He's gonna shoot anybody who leaves the house (over some melted rasberry ripple???) and any police who come by, too! (So if this had been a full gallon of melted ice cream, he would have shot up the neighborhood???) This half-gallon of melted ice cream then leads to a 2 1/2 hour standoff with the local police.

Needless to say, Dad has a history of domestic violence.

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=183334

Originally Published: 1/5/2010
Father's rage over son's actions led to Lower Alsace standoff, police say

A father's rage over finding his 13-year-old son asleep on a sofa with a half-gallon of melted ice cream triggered a domestic dispute that led to the standoff in their Lower Alsace Township home Sunday, investigators said Monday.

Jay A. Fisher, 48, who owns Gun Gallery in St. Lawrence, became enraged with his son, Jay, about noon in their residence at 2200 Highland Ave. and punched him, Central Berks Regional police said.

The father then grabbed a 12-inch kitchen knife and threw it at the boy, police said. The knife barely missed the boy's head and stuck in the wall behind him, police said.

Fisher threatened to shoot anyone who tried to leave the house and any police who arrived, investigators said.

The county's emergency response team and dozens of police from several Berks departments blocked the area around the Fisher residence during the 21/2-hour standoff.

The standoff ended about 2:30 when Fisher surrendered after speaking by telephone with police negotiators, said Chief Anthony C. Garipoli Sr. of Central Berks Regional police.

Fisher remained free on $25,000 bail after arraignment before Senior District Judge Richard A. Gatti in Reading Central Court. Fisher is charged with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, making terroristic threats, endangering the welfare of a child and related offenses.

As a condition of his bail, Fisher is not allowed to have contact with his wife, Taryn, and their son.
According to court records:

Fisher got out of bed and went downstairs. He saw his son asleep on the sofa with melted ice cream.

Fisher assaulted his son and his wife tried to intervene, telling the boy to go upstairs and shower.
The boy ran upstairs, and his father ran after him. The boy locked the bathroom door and his father knocked it off the hinges, pulled his son by the hair, punched him and told him to go downstairs to clean up the mess.

A family friend ran from the house for help.

Police responded, and Central Berks Sgt. Anthony Maddaloni called Fisher's cell phone. Fisher answered but would not allow Maddaloni to speak with his wife. Fisher said there was a bad connection and hung up.

Taryn Fisher told her husband she was leaving, but he said, "No one will be leaving," and, "We will be one big, happy family."

Fisher got a handgun and stood by the window of the bedroom to await police.

Fisher released his wife and son about 1:30 p.m. and gave himself up about an hour later. Taryn Fisher wasn't injured and her son did not seek medical attention.

Police took Fisher to Reading Hospital for evaluation before he was arraigned.

Police called the Reading bomb squad to search the house because investigators believed it had been booby-trapped, Garipoli said. A sweep of the house turned up no explosives, authorities said.

Garipoli said police removed several guns from the house Sunday night. He said police had been called to the Fisher residence for domestic disputes other times.

State troopers, fire officials from Mount Penn and West Reading and police from Cumru, Exeter, Lower Alsace and Spring townships assisted.