Margaret Cirko leaves magisterial district court in Hanover Township after her preliminary hearing Thursday. Ed Lewis | Times Leader
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HANOVER TWP. — A woman accused of coughing and spitting on food inside Gerrity’s supermarket while yelling she “has the virus” will face the most serious charge, Weapons of Mass Destruction, in Luzerne County Court.
District Judge Joseph Halesey forwarded the second-degree felony charge against Margaret Cirko, 36, of Tomko Avenue, Hanover Township, after an argumentative preliminary hearing Thursday morning.
Assistant District Attorney Drew McLaughlin and Cirko’s defense attorney, Thomas Cometa, argued the definition of the law and if saliva can be considered a biological agent.
Township police charged Cirko after she entered the supermarket on Sans Souci Parkway and began yelling “I have the virus, you’re all going to get sick” and proceeded to cough and spit saliva on food items for sale on March 25.
Glenn Miller, a 13-year employee at Gerrity’s, testified he was cutting meat when he first heard and then observed a woman yelling, “I have the virus” and coughing and spitting saliva on food items.
Miller said he initially believed the woman was sick and asked her to go to a restroom but quickly realized what was happening inside the store.
“She looked at me and smiled and spat,” Miller said. “We were going through this COVID incident and I immediately felt she was implying to that.”
Miller said the woman, whom he identified as Cirko in the courtroom, forced herself to cough describing the saliva as “foamy” coming out of her mouth. He said the saliva struck food items that had to be discarded.
Joe Fasula, co-owner of Gerrity’s, said at the time an estimated $35,000 worth of food had to be discarded.
Cirko, who was released from the county correctional facility after posting $50,000 bail on May 5, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, and misdemeanor counts of criminal attempt to commit retail theft and criminal mischief, and a second degree felony of bomb threats, which incorporates weapons of mass destruction.
Cirko, through Cometa, waived all the misdemeanor charges to county court and only contested the felony weapons of mass destruction charge before Halesey.
Cirko tested negative for the COVID-19 virus, Cometa said.
Cometa argued the way the bomb threat law is written, a defendant is required to use a mechanical device to release a biological agent.
“The statute focuses on a delivery system, a mechanical delivery, not a delivery by the human body,” Cometa argued.
McLaughlin countered arguing the law is supported by “a threat,” which he noted Cirko “preyed upon” when the Coronavirus pandemic impacted the area in March.
“She preyed upon that alarm,” McLaughlin stated. “She didn’t just make a statement, she coughed, she spat, she vomited.”