Staff report

A man who held police at bay last month after shooting into a neighbor's house has now been charged with intimidating a witness.

On Sunday, Salisbury Police charged Charles Edward "Eddie" Earnhardt IV, 51, of 523 Maupin Ave. with trying to intimidate Mark Story Sr., a resident of 527 Maupin Ave.

A woman told police that Earnhardt had told her "that Mark Story would disappear" between Dec. 10 and Jan. 2, according to a warrant.

Earnhardt was charged with discharging a weapon into an occupied building on Nov. 2, after police say he fired a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun into Story's residence, spraying the porch with pellets. Some penetrated the walls and punctured Story's washing machine.

During that incident, Earnhardt held police at bay for more than hour. Police said they found Earnhardt sitting on his front porch armed with a shotgun and he threatened officers before going inside his house.

After the November incident, Story said he had filed a complaint against Earnhardt for animal abuse after the saw Earnhardt abusing his own dog. Story said that may have been why he was targeted.

Earnhardt's bond was set at $100,000 on the original charges.

Since that incident, he was served a summons on Nov. 21 for second-degree trespass at the Story property.

Magistrate Fred Moore set Earnhardt's bond at $5,000 on the charge of intimidating a witness. He is set to appear in Rowan County District Court on Thursday.

Moore also ordered that Earnhardt have no further contact with Story.