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'Intoxicated' Tenant With Guns Caused Incident In Lebanon, Police Say

The police incident on Chestnut Street in Lebanon on Tuesday, March 26 is now known to have been caused by an angry "intoxicated" tenant refusing to leave a property at the request of his landlord, the Lebanon City police detailed in a release on Thursday, March 28. 

Thomas Eugene Cahill Jr. and his store Cahill & Son Furniture & Appliances located at 837 Chestnut Street in Lebanon. 

Thomas Eugene Cahill Jr. and his store Cahill & Son Furniture & Appliances located at 837 Chestnut Street in Lebanon. 

Photo Credit: Lebanon City Police (Overlay); Google Maps (Street View)

A convict who already had an active case in Dauphin County, Thomas Eugene Cahill Jr., 58 of Lebanon, is accused of threatening his maintenance supervisor after he was asked to vacate his business, Cahill & Sons Furniture & Appliances located at 837 Chestnut Street within the city, police detailed in the release and court records showed.

"The property manager reported that Cahill Jr was possibly in possession of long guns," the police state in their release. 

When officers arrived to defuse the situation, "Cahill Jr. refused to exit the property and would not allow officers to enter" the police said, explaining that he "spoke with officers on the phone throughout the duration of the incident."

The police noted that "it was immediately apparent that Cahill Jr was intoxicated." Cahill Jr. has a lengthy criminal record mainly guilty pleas for driving under the influence, court records show. 

The incident required a lockdown of the local schools and a police perimeter around the business. 

The public was asked to avoid the area, but a shelter-in-place order was never issued.  

After "re-assessing police response, we cleared the scene," as stated in the release, "Although uniformed personnel cleared the scene, the location continued to be monitored by other means."

On Wednesday, March 27, Cahill Jr. was arrested on a misdemeanor charge for terroristic threats. He was taken into custody without incident at 8:13 p.m., according to the police release. 

On March 28, a search warrant was executed at the store, and "3 long guns were recovered. The Lebanon City Police Department is in consultation with [the] District Attorney's office to determine if additional charges are appropriate."

Cahill Jr. has been remanded to the Lebanon County Prison after failing to post $75,000 in bail as set by Magisterial District Judge John W. Ditzler, his latest court docket shows. His preliminary hearing is set before Magisterial District Judge Maria M. Dissinger at 8 a.m. April 4. 

The Dauphin County DUI case was set for plea court on March 28, but since he is in the Lebanon County Prison that will probably be continued. 

Check back here for updates on this incident.

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