Judge OKs access to mental health records in firearms prosecution of Trump defender

Aug. 2—Westmoreland County prosecutors will have access to the mental health records of a Hunker man who was charged with illegal gun possession at a Delmont restaurant where he claimed he was defending former President Donald Trump.

Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger authorized the release of records as part of a weapons case against Jan Stawovy, 62, who is awaiting trial on multiple firearms counts related to an incident in September at a Dairy Queen on Route 66 and a later police search of his home.

According to court records, Stawovy was detained wearing a bright yellow vest and rainbow-colored wig as he entered the restaurant last September with a gun in his hand.

Police said Stawovy claimed he was an undercover police officer who was working to return Trump to office and "fighting the shadow fake presidency."

Witnesses claimed Stawovy, while inside the restaurant about 45 minutes earlier, threatened to shoot Democrats and liberals. Prosecutors charged Stawovy with multiple counts of illegal gun possession after they found a gun in his jacket pocket and two others in his vehicle.

A subsequent search of his garage in Hunker found another seven weapons, police said.

Stawovy, according to court records, was involuntarily committed to a mental health hospital in 2021 and, as a result, was not permitted to possess guns. Prosecutors said they need Stawovy's mental health records to prove at an upcoming trial that he was disqualified from possessing weapons.

The judge Wednesday denied a defense request to bar the prosecution of the gun case that involved the weapons found at Stawovy's home.

Defense attorney Jill A. Devine argued, because Stawovy was detained at the Dairy Queen, he never had an opportunity to dispose of the weapons later found in his home.

"They are piling on," Devine said.

Stawovy is being held in jail without bond. His trial is scheduled to begin in October.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .