Man charged with firing gun into house

NILES — A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22 for a Niles man who opened fire on a woman because she wouldn’t braid his hair.

Paul Lucky, 29, of 148 Royal Mall Drive in the Royal Mall Apartments, appeared Friday before acting municipal Judge John Gargano on charges of felonious assault, discharging a firearm into a dwelling and aggravated menacing. Bond was set at $7,500.

Police said Lucky went to a neighbor’s apartment Thursday and asked her to braid his hair. He left after the woman turned him down. He returned with a .22-caliber rifle and fired a shot through the front door.

Police said the woman, who has a brain tumor, was sitting on the couch when the shot was fired. The bullet struck the wall over her head, ricocheted off the wall and landed near the front door.

Police found the loaded rifled in Lucky’s apartment along with ammunition. When he was taken to police headquarters, he reportedly threatened to kill a police office in the jail. He was charged with aggravated menacing because of the threat, police said.