Guilty Plea From Man Accused Of Holding Firefighters Hostage In Cheltenham
By Jim Melwert
CHELTENHAM, Pa. (CBS) -- A former volunteer firefighter in Cheltenham admits to holding four people hostage after he was told he was expelled from the LaMott Fire Company last spring.
Twenty-seven-year-old Paul Jordan's open guilty includes four counts of kidnapping, and four counts of attempted kidnapping.
According to court documents, the morning after he was expelled from the company for a comment he made to a juvenile, Jordan returned, pulled a gun and held four men hostage for about an hour and a half, threatening to kill one of the men, and firing a shot into the wall by that man's head.
Jordan could be facing decades in prison when he's sentenced. But his attorney, Ben Cooper says this was out of character for his client.
He says Jordan suffers from PTSD, and, as part of the sentence, he hopes Jordan can be paroled to in-patient mental health treatment on a long-term basis.
"This is a long-term battle that he faces and he needs this help and the justice system needs to intervene in this."
Jordan was remanded to county prison without bail pending sentencing.