Mt. Prospect Road Woman Indicted on Weapons Charges

A Mt. Prospect Road resident was indicted Wednesday on weapons and assault charges following a June incident in which she allegedly attacked a neighbor.

Rosalyn Valachovic, 69, is being charged with possession of a gun for an unlawful purpose and aggravated assault in connection with the incident.

At a scheduled arraignment in October, said Valachovic's attorney Steve Lieberman, she will be entering a plea of not guilty.

According to Acting Somerset County Prosecutor Peter DeMarco, township police responded to a call at 10:43 a.m. of an assault in progress, and the caller said she had been attacked by her neighbor. A subsequent caller, DeMarco said, reported that his neighbor had fired a weapon at him.

DeMarco said the male neighbor reported that Valachovic was armed with a loaded Smith and Wesson .22 caliber revolver, which she fired in his direction while he was seated on a tractor in the roadway at the end of her driveway. Valachovic, DeMarco said, was reported to have pointed the revolver toward the ground and fired one shot into the pavement, before pointing it in the direction of her neighbor's head.

DeMarco said the man jumped from his tractor and struggled with Valachovic in an attempt to grab the revolver from her, and another shot was fired.

According to Lieberman, Valachovic's neighbor ran his tractor over her property and caused damage to it.

"He was refusing to get off the property when she asked," he said.

But Lieberman does not deny that Valachovic fired a warning shot.

"She told him to get off the property," he said, adding that in the later struggle, the neighbor broke her arm.

DeMarco said Valachovic was taken to a local hospital after the incident for an injury to her right arm from the struggle with her neighbor. She was treated and released into the custody of township police, DeMarco said.

Lieberman said Valachovic was released on $15,000 bail.

Following the October arraignment, Lieberman said, there will be pre-trial motions and other procedures.

"A trial probably won't happen for another six to eight months," he said.