A Plymouth man has been charged with a firearm

PLYMOUTH — County police have added firearms charges against Amos McCoy Jr., alleging he had a sawed-off shotgun and a gun with altered serial numbers during a standoff with authorities in July.

The alleged firearm was found during a search of his New Street apartment after a standoff with authorities and the state police’s Special Emergency Response Team on July 24.

Police said in court records filed Wednesday that they found a sawn-off .20-caliber shotgun with a strap attached to its butt, a loaded .40-caliber handgun, ammunition and a bulletproof vest in the same room of McCoy’s apartment where he was taken into custody , which stopped the confrontation.

Police responded to the apartment for a 911 domestic violence call where his girlfriend said McCoy slapped her when she asked him to return $1,000 of her money. She claimed McCoy brandished a gun he held near her head, threatening to kill her and her children, court records state.

McCoy went on to tell the woman that he was not afraid of the police and put on a bulletproof vest, which he covered with a shirt.

The woman fled the home with the children, only to return later to find McCoy holding a gun and pacing.

When police initially made contact with McCoy, he refused to exit the residence and locked the back door, initiating a standoff that led to a response from SERT troopers.

For safety purposes, residents of the residential building were evacuated.

McCoy was taken into custody about eight hours after police first responded to the apartment.

Police executed a search warrant after finding a firearm, ammunition and body armor in the same room where McCoy was arrested, according to court records.

McCoy was jailed without bail on a felony count of aggravated assault.

At McCoy’s preliminary hearing Wednesday, police withdrew the first criminal complaint and refiled the second, adding firearms offenses, two counts each of simple assault and terroristic threats and one count each of aggravated assault, illegal wearing of body armor, stalking, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, alteration of the serial number on a firearm and illegal possession of a weapon. McCoy was arraigned on the latest charges by District Judge Joseph A. Halsey in Luzerne County Central Court and committed to the county correctional facility for lack of $25,000 bail.