PORT DEPOSIT, Md. — On Sunday afternoon, Clay Schaeffer walked out of his house in Port Deposit and headed for his workshop up the hill when a woman later identified as Roxanne Semilia walked into the home and came face-to-face with his wife.
"The lady started making demands,” said Schaeffer. “She wanted a ride. She wanted money."
The would-be robber grew hysterical, blocking the door when Schaeffer's wife told her she had no money, and that's when the victim realized the strange woman had a bottle of booze in one hand and a gun in the other.
"The lady pulled out a gun and pointed it at her and fired it a few times, but it apparently wasn't loaded," said Schaeffer.
Semilia allegedly than tried to sell the gun to the victim and when she refused, she raised the gun within a foot or so of her face and tried to fire twice more unsuccessfully.
Once the victim convinced the intruder to let her go upstairs to retrieve some money, Semilia left the house and headed down the hill towards main street where her quest for a quick buck continued.
"She started pointing the gun at people in cars trying to get them to stop," said Schaeffer.
"Once our troopers arrived and found this woman walking up North Main Street, there she was appearing intoxicated and also carrying what appeared to be a handgun,” said Elena Russo of the Maryland State Police. “Through the investigation, it was learned this handgun was a BB gun."
A high-powered BB gun that resembles a .357 revolver and can be just as lethal.
"Those high-powered, air pistols, when they point them at your face like that and if they shoot you, if they get you right, they can kill you," said Schaeffer.
Investigators later learned the suspect had spent the day drinking at a nearby neighbor's home until she became so despondent that she placed the barrel of a rifle in her mouth and attempted to pull the trigger.
It's alleged she stole the air-powered pellet revolver when she was asked to leave that home, which she then used in the crimes just across the street.
