Police: Arnold man smashed window, shot into girlfriend's house

An Arnold woman was cut by shattered glass last week after, police say, her boyfriend smashed her front window before firing a shot into her house while her three children were inside.

Police charged Andrew Damar Ellis-Barnes Sr., 35, of Arnold with firing a gun into an occupied structure and two counts of illegal gun possession — all felonies — and misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief in connection with the incident early July 24.

As a convicted felon, Ellis-Barnes is not permitted to have firearms, according to a criminal complaint filed against him.

The woman told investigators she kicked Ellis-Barnes out of her Fifth Avenue house the day before the alleged shooting but he returned around midnight to get a shoe for his son. After getting the shoe, police say, Ellis-Barnes broke a large front picture window and the flying glass cut the back of the woman’s left arm.

The woman told investigators Ellis-Barnes walked to his car and reached into his waistband as if he were pulling out a gun. She told police she closed the front door and moments later heard what sounded like two shots being fired. Children ages 7, 13 and 15 were sleeping upstairs, police said.

Police said they found one .380-caliber shell casing and part of a slug at the house.

A neighbor’s surveillance camera appeared to show Ellis-Barnes fire one shot at the house, police said.

Ellis-Barnes was arraigned Tuesday in front of District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. of New Kensington and denied bond because the court deemed him a danger to the community and a flight risk, according to court paperwork.