Eldred Twp. man charged with illegal possession of guns

By Andrew Scott
Pocono Record Writer Follow @@PoconoAScott

An Eldred Township man is charged with having guns he wasn't supposed to have, having been convicted of a crime in the past.

Convicted of burglary, David Joseph Frantz, 52, is charged with prohibited possession of two guns he was found with Monday at his home. Frantz was released on unsecured bail and will be scheduled for a future district court appearance.

One of the guns is a Savage 93R17 17 HMR bolt-action rifle, with a Simmons 3-9X40 scope, which had one round chambered and another four rounds in the detachable magazine when found in Frantz's possession, state police said. The other is a Savage Axis .308 Win bolt-action rifle, with a Bushnell 3-9X40 scope, which at the time had three rounds in a detachable magazine.

Frantz contacted state police Friday, wishing to speak to them about a separate case, according to an affidavit.

Police arrived Monday at Frantz's home and spotted the rifles in plain view, along with blood, in Frantz's pickup truck. Knowing Frantz, as someone convicted of a crime in the past, is banned from having any guns, police took him into custody.

Frantz later told police the rifles belong to someone else who had left them in his pickup truck when going to work. He said the blood was from processing deer meat into bologna and acknowledged he isn't supposed to have any guns.