LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. — A Reading man is facing charges after a custody exchange of two children, turned into an Amber Alert, according to the Lebanon County District Attorney's Office.
Police say Luis Jesus-Arroyo met with a woman from Lebanon at 302 East Evergreen Road on Friday, May 15, for an agreed-upon custody exchange of their two children aged six and eleven.
When police arrived on the scene witnesses informed officers that an altercation had taken place, culminating with Jesus-Arroyo firing a gun into the air.
Both Jesus-Arroyo and the mother of the children were accompanied by another person. Police say after the children were in Jesus-Arroyo's vehicle, a physical and verbal altercation began involving all four people.
According to police, Jesus-Arroyo then returned to his vehicle, retrieved a handgun, pointed the gun at the two other people involved, then fired a shot into the air.
Police say Jesus-Arroyo then fled the scene with the two children in his vehicle.
The District Attorney's Office says because of the nature of the incident, police activated the Amber Alert System.
Reading Police were able to locate the children at a home on Cotton Street in Reading City later that evening. They were both unharmed and returned to the custody of their mother, police say.
Police also found Jesus-Arroyo at the home and he was taken into custody without incident.
He was returned to Lebanon County and is facing charges for terroristic threats, simple assault by physical menace, and recklessly endangering another person.
