Man shot at neighbor’s house, state police say

DOVER, N.Y. >> A man from this Dutchess County town has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing two shotgun rounds into the living room of a neighboring house before barricading himself in his own home, state police Monday.

Stewart M. Mercay, 70, was arrested Saturday afternoon following a standoff with numerous law-enforcement agencies that lasted nearly half a day, police said.

No injuries were reported.

Troopers responded to Cedar Lane in Dover about 1:45 a.m. Saturday and were joined by officers from multiple other agencies, state police said. They said Mercay had retreated into his home and refused to come out. No one else was in Mercay’s home at the time, police said.

Troopers tried to negotiate with Mercay for 11 hours before his arrest, police said. It was not immediately clear what brought the standoff to an end, but police said Mercay vented propane from his kitchen stove and lit a candle before leaving the house through a rear door, placing law-enforcement officers at risk from an explosion.

Mercay was taken into custody at 1:45 p.m. and was charged with two felony counts of attempted murder.

Mercay is accused firing through the window of the neighbor’s house, police said. No one was in the targeted house at the time, said Trooper A.J. Hicks, the spokesman for state police Troop K.

Police did not provide a possible motive for the shooting.

Mercay was arraigned in Dover Town Court and sent to the Dutchess County Jail without bail.