A BLOKE WHO was outbid by a man on ebay travelled half-way across America and pointed a gun at the winner?s wife, it's alleged.
Gerald Newburger, who lives in New Orleans, travelled all the way to New York to threaten Robert Malinovsky in a dispute about used brass band uniforms.
Newburger was outbid by Malinovsky on a 480-piece wardrobe of second-hand band and dance uniforms. Undeterred Newburger kept trying to bid offline.
According to m?learned prosecutors Newburger exchanged e-mails and phone calls with Malinovsky for several months trying to convince him to sell.
When that didn?t work Newburger, prosecutors say he decided to resolve matters using his constitutional right to bear arms.
He broke into Malinovsky's home but the successful bidder was out and so Newburger threatened his wife with the gun instead. Unable to find the uniforms he left.
Police found Newburger in a taxi 30 minutes afterwards on his way back to the train station. He had a handgun.
Through his lawyers, Newburger, admitted to being in the Malinvosky home, but denied he waved his gun at Malinovski?s wife. Apparently it just fell out of his briefcase when he reached inside it for a piece of paper, he claimed.
He faces charges of burglary, criminal possession of a weapon, and coercion. His trial is scheduled for May 10 and he faces a mandatory term of 5-25 years in prison if found guilty.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15658
