Trial Postponed for Darlington Supervisor in Pine Incident

A trial was postponed today for a Darlington Township public official who is accused of threatening a Pine man with a gun.

John Raymond Nicely, 59, is charged with making terroristic threats, simple assault and defiant trespass. He is a member of the three-person Darlington Township Board of Supervisors in northwest Beaver County.

The non-jury trial was rescheduled for April 27 before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel.

The incident allegedly took place at the Old State Road home of Joseph Alan Piole, 46, in Pine Township, according to a report from Northern Regional Police.

Piole said he had hired Nicely’s son to build a pond in his front yard, police said.

On the morning of Aug. 16, Piole said he observed men he did not recognize come onto his property and start moving construction equipment placed there by David R. Nicely Contracting, according to police.

 When he confronted the men, they said they told him they were repossessing the equipment, the police report said. Piole said he told the men they needed to produce a court order or identification, but they did neither and continued moving equipment, said the police report.

 A man later identified as Michael Ryan Stepek, 29, allegedly pushed Piole, according to the police report.

Stepek 's trial also was postponed until April 27 for charges of simple assault, harassment and defiant trespass.

Piole told police that when the pushing started, John R. Nicely got out of a pickup truck with a cell phone and said he was calling police, according to the report.

Later, John R. Nicely allegedly pointed a shotgun at Piole , ordered Piole out of the way and threatened to “blow him away” if he didn’t move, the police report states.

Piole said he moved and told Nicely he could not come onto his property, threaten him with a gun and get away with it, according to the police report.

“[Stepek] walked up to him and punched him in the right side of his face,” the police report stated.

As [Stepek] continued loading equipment onto the trailer, Piole said he saw David Nicely walking down his driveway, the report said.

Although Piole said he called out and asked what was going on, David Nicely ignored him, the police report stated. Nicely allegedly walked up to his father, told him to get in the truck and drive, according to Piole’s account in the police report.

“[Piole] observed a large handgun tucked into [David] Nicely’s waistband,” according to the police report.

When Piole asked what was going on, David Nicely allegedly replied that he had to comply with a court order for back taxes with which he had been served that morning, the police report states

When police contacted David Nicely by phone, he said his crew just went over to pick up equipment, the police report states.

David R. Nicely was charged with terroristic threats and criminal conspiracy, but those charges were dismissed at his preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Regis Welsh Jr.