Judge rules Amesbury man dangerous, held without bail
Mar. 27—AMESBURY — Zachary Piechocki, a Friend Street resident facing firearms-related charges, was determined to be dangerous by a Newburyport District Court judge Friday and ordered to remain behind bars until trial.
Piechocki, 28, was arrested Tuesday and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition without an FID card and five counts of possessing a high-capacity ammunition feeding device.
State law defines a high-capacity feeding device as a detachable magazine, drum or clip capable of holding 10 or more rounds of ammunition or five or more shotgun shells.
During Piechocki's arraignment the next day, Essex County prosecutor Shailagh Kennedy filed a motion to hold him without bail, claiming he was too dangerous to be released before a trial. A judge ruled there was enough probable cause to hold Piechocki until Friday's dangerousness hearing.
An Amesbury police report shows officers were tipped off by a witness that Piechocki had a handgun and was waving it around his apartment.
Detective Raymond Landry wrote in his report that after a witness alerted police about the handgun, officers checked on his license to carry and found it was revoked in 2015. A computer check also showed he did not have any firearms listed in the state's database.
Based on the witness' statement, detectives obtained a search warrant for the apartment. During that search, police found a 9mm Beretta handgun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, several empty handgun cases and five high-capacity magazines.
While in the apartment, Detective Sgt. David Noyes found the handgun and other firearms-related items. Among them were dozens of .45 caliber and 9mm hollow point bullets, hundreds of full metal jacket rounds, two shotgun shells, gun cases belonging to various handguns, large-capacity magazines and a holster, according to Landry's report.
At Friday's hearing, Noyes testified that police found the loaded handgun in a bolted floor safe. The safe also contained four loaded high capacity magazines. Police said they also found several knives "staged" around the small apartment so Piechocki could grab them quickly, and a notebook that contained a list of items he wanted to buy, including long guns and a bigger safe.
Police also discovered Facebook photos that showed a younger Piechocki sitting with a different gun and another photo showing a table covered with several guns.
That evidence, along with testimony from the witness who tipped off police, painted a picture of a person who could not be trusted or supervised if released on bail.
"That is what makes him dangerous," Kennedy said.
But Piechocki's attorney, Scott Gleason, argued that the witness who tipped off police held a grudge against his client and said the Facebook photos were roughly 10 years old and taken in a state with more relaxed gun laws.
"The issue of dangerousness, your honor, I don't believe is clear and convincing," Gleason said.
Moments after the attorneys finished their arguments, Judge Peter Doyle ruled in favor of Kennedy's motion and held Piechocki without bail. A date of April 30 was scheduled for a probable cause hearing, by which time Piechocki may be indicted by a Salem Superior Court grand jury.
Piechocki will be able to appeal Doyle's decision in Superior Court. If a judge there allows him to post bail, he will be prohibited from having any firearms and must have no contact will all witnesses.
Dave Rogers is a staff writer with The Daily News. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
