Police: Arnold felon built homemade shotgun, was making a second

Arnold police responding to a domestic dispute Sunday discovered that a man, a convicted felon prohibited from owning guns, had allegedly made his own shotgun and was fashioning a second.

Arnold police on Monday charged Mervin Hamilton, 49, with two counts of illegal possession of firearms and one count each of unlawful restraint, simple assault and terroristic threats.

Officers responding to the call in the 1400 block of Fifth Avenue shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday were told Hamilton and a 39-year-old woman were struggling over the shotgun.

Officers found the woman outside the house and ordered Hamilton to come down from upstairs at gunpoint.

Hamilton told police the woman “was going crazy” and started kicking him, and he allegedly admitted to grabbing her to keep her from hitting him.

The woman told police Hamilton had grabbed her by the neck and threw her in a closet, banging her head. He then allegedly pulled her out by her feet and restrained her feet under his arms for 10 to 15 minutes. She slid out of his grip and kicked him in the chest to get free, then found a cellphone and called 911, police said.

Hamilton allegedly blocked the bedroom door, keeping the woman from getting out, and moved away when he heard her telling that to the 911 operator.

As she left the room, the woman said she grabbed a duffel bag containing the homemade shotgun, which Hamilton allegedly tried to take away from her. The woman said Hamilton acted like he was going to hit her in the head with the shotgun before she went outside to wait for police.

Police said Hamilton initially denied having a shotgun, explaining he was not allowed to have one because he was a convicted felon and on probation out of Dauphin County on an aggravated assault charge. Hamilton was convicted in August 2012.

The woman told police Hamilton likely had taken the gun apart to hide it. Police said they got consent to search the house. They found boxes of shot shell ammunition and two 3/4-inch steel pipes, which were threaded on one end and in which a 12-gauge shot shell fit perfectly.

An officer told Hamilton he “would not hit him with all the charges I could” if he gave up the location of the weapon. Hamilton allegedly told the officer a wooden handle to fit the pipes was in a bedroom, but it could not be found.

Hamilton guided the officer to a workshop, where he was making the other shotgun, police said. There, officers said they found parts of the shotgun.

Hamilton was released on a $40,000 unsecured bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 18.