BUFFALO TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A man turned himself in to the police after investigators said he tried to destroy his own home with an excavator while his family was inside.
Drone 11 shows the damage to the home, parts of the roof torn off and the red excavator still sitting in the rubble.
Police say Erik Pierswza came home early Tuesday morning and got into an argument with his wife.
She told police they were in the process of separating. According to the criminal complaint, when she told her husband she was “done,” he shouted, “If it’s over, I’ll tear the house down.”
“You never know what people are thinking today,” said Buffalo Township Police Chief Timothy Derringer of the Buffalo Township Police Department. “It is an unfortunate incident, I will say for all involved and hopefully it is an isolated incident and there are no other incidents in the future.”
That’s the Buffalo Township police chief’s reaction to what happened at the home on Martin Road.
“His wife and two children were in the home when he started demolishing the home,” Derringer said.
Drone 11 shows the back wall is now lying on the lawn, along with bricks and siding scattered on the ground.
Pierswza’s wife and two kids were able to make it out of the home and were not physically hurt, according to police.
“Prior to the officers getting on scene, they were notified that he had fled in a vehicle. Officers reached out to him via phone and later in the day, around 1 o’clock, he did turn himself in to our department,” Derringer said.
Channel 11 found Pierswza’s landscaping business online, but could not get a call through to the phone number listed. It is unclear why the machinery was on their property or if he is still running the business.
Pierswza is now charged with the damage to the home and putting his family in danger.
According to police paperwork, his wife planned to file a protection-from-abuse order.
Police said they’d never been to the family’s house before this.
“I can’t say this has happened in the past, it hasn’t,” Derringer said. “But domestic violence is a real issue. Whether it’s here in this community and in every community.”
According to police, Pierswza is out on bail.
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