WARREN — A man accused of carrying weapons to the Girard Municipal Court was found not guilty by a jury after getting on the stand — against his own attorney’s advice — to tell jurors that he would not have carried a machete, an ax and several knives into the Girard Municipal Building that houses both the police station and the court.

“This should have never gotten this far,” Lawrence A. Molek Jr. said after the jury verdict was announced.

Molek, 54, was acquitted of charges of illegal conveyance of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordinance into a court.

During his testimony, Molek admitted he carried a machete, a hatchet, and two pocket knives with him to the city’s municipal building in a backpack, but added he threw the bag in bushes outside of the building before entering it.

The bag was brought in by others after he entered the building, Molek said.

“I did not carry the bag into the building,” he insisted.

Molek testified he went to Girard’s Police Department on April 17, 2020, to obtain a copy of a police report. He carried a lunch bag and a backpack full of what he described as cutting tools.

The municipal court is located on the building’s second floor. Residents wanting to go to the court must enter the first-floor level at which the police station is located. From the first floor, there is an elevator and a set of stairs that persons can take to reach the court.

Molek testified because he does not have a car, he arranged to be picked up from the police station after he obtained the police report. He intended to go to a pawn shop to see what he could get for the knives that were in his bag.

He described carrying the machete and the ax because he uses them to trim tree limbs and do other landscaping projects.

Girard Police officer Lance Klinger described screening people entering the municipal building when the backpack full of weapons were brought into the building and placed on the conveyer at the door.

Klinger described Molek on several occasions attempting to retrieve the backpack with the items in it. The police would not return the bag.

Klinger described Molek waiting to get the police report at the building. When questioned by assistant prosecutor Michael Fredericka whether he felt threatened by Molek, Klinger said he was not. However, Klinger added he was concerned about the weapons.

“We itemized what was in the backpack,” he said.

A second officer, Bryce Lapierre, testified he was called in from the road later that morning to file a report. However, Lapierre said he was not at the building when Molek arrived, so he did not personally see him carrying the weapons into the building.

When questioned about a sign at the building’s entrance that states weapons could not be brought into the building, Molek said he did not see the sign. However, he added, he knew enough not to bring weapons into the building.

“This is not my first rodeo,” Molek said.

Defense Attorney Robert Root, during closing arguments, said there was no evidence his client meant to commit any act of malice against anyone in the court.