ALBANY — A Greene County man is in Albany County Jail on felony kidnapping and other charges after he held his friends in a city apartment and threatened them with a semi-automatic weapon while under the influence of drugs, police said.
Nathaniel Picardi, 30, of Catskill, is accused of pointing a loaded AR-15 rifle at his friends and preventing them from leaving an apartment on the 100 block of Myrtle Avenue at about 11:25 p.m. Friday, according to a statement from the Albany Police Department on Saturday.
Investigators determined Picardi was using drugs inside of the apartment with a group of friends when he became paranoid, stood in front of the apartment’s entrance armed with the loaded AR-15 rifle and pointed it at them, police said.
He was charged with second-degree kidnapping, a class B felony; and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class D felony; second-degree menacing, a class A misdemeanor; according to police.
Police recovered the rifle and a quantity of .223 ammunition allegedly used during the incident after executing a search warrant.
There were no reported injuries, police said.
Police arrived at the apartment Friday night after receiving reports of a group of men being held against their will with a firearm inside the residence.
When officers arrived on the scene, they heard a commotion taking place inside and removed Picardi from the apartment. Officers immediately placed him in custody, police said.
Picardi was arraigned in Albany City Criminal Court and was remanded to the Albany County Jail, where he was held without bail.
Picardi was in Albany on Friday night hours after state police arrested him on felony drug possession charges in the village of Catskill.
Earlier that day, he was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a narcotic drug, a class C felony; seventh-degree criminal possession of controlled substance, and manufacturing drug related paraphernalia, both misdemeanors.
He is scheduled to appear in Catskill Village Court on those charges at a later date.