GIRARD — A city man accused of pointing a pistol at his mother during an argument, and then firing several shots in the home’s garage, pleaded not guilty to felonious assault and having a weapon while intoxicated during a video arraignment in Girard Municipal Court.

Matthew J. Irwin, 30, of 39 Summit Ave., was assigned a $15,000 bond for the felonious assault and a separate $5,000 bond earlier this week for having a weapon while intoxicated, according to court records.

Irwin was arrested at his home shortly after 9:50 p.m. Monday, after his mother, Alice M. Irwin, 49, reported to police that he took a gun from its holster and pointed it at her face. Matthew Irwin was standing less than 5 feet away from her at the time, the police report states.

When he walked out into the home’s breezeway, Alice Irwin heard between five and six shots fired. Police found one shell casing in the home’s breezeway and five more shell casings on the garage floor. They found three bullet holes in the garage overhead door and shells were found in the grill and the headlight assembly unit of his mother’s car.

When Matthew Irwin spoke to police outside of the home, he admitted to pointing the gun at his mother, according to the report. But he described the gun firing accidently while he was walking out of the breezeway.

The firing of the gun scared him, because he thought the gun was not loaded, he told officers. He then went into the garage and fired the remaining rounds into a trash can to make sure it was empty.

When officers retrieved the gun from the glove compartment it was noticed that Irwin had the smell of alcohol on his breath, according to the report. He admitted drinking two shots and two beers.

He was arrested.

The gun’s holster was found under a can in the garage. In addition, officers were given by family members a green ammunition box and a separate container that contained a gun cleaning kit, two pairs of ear protection, a box of 50 .365 FMJ/Elite 9 mm rounds, a box of Remington UMC 9 m rounds and a box of Hornady Critical Defense bullets, according to the police report.

rsmith@tribtoday.com