Garden City candidate says he's innocent

A candidate for the Garden City Town Council faces a charge of brandishing a firearm in an argument.

Gerald E. Hunsicker, 67, has been charged with "threatening with or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel," according to court documents. The charges stem from an incident in Garden City's Harbor Village on Aug. 16, said Rich County sheriff's deputy Mark Lee.

Lee said Hunsicker lives in Harbor Village, where the streets are privately owned. A member of a family that entered Harbor Village told deputies Hunsicker brandished a pistol and accused them of trespassing, Lee said.

But in a letter to Garden City residents, Hunsicker said, "I am innocent of this charge."

He said he wrote the letter to address "the rumors, exaggerations, half-truths and simple lies about me and an incident involving a gun, which I am licensed to carry."

In his letter, Hunsicker said neither the alleged victims nor he pressed for the charge to be filed, and he iterated he is innocent until proven guilty.

"I am not someone who would go around brandishing a gun at trespassers," he said. "And I tell you the truth."

Hunsicker is scheduled to appear Nov. 20 in 1st District Court in Randolph. The charge is a class-A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and $2,500 in fines.

Hunsicker is among six people running for four seats on the Garden City Town Council in the Nov. 6 election. He said in his letter he will not drop out of the race.

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E-mail: mikewennergren@yahoo.com