Police: Drunk Father Fires Gun After Fight with Son

A alleged wild night led to shots being fired over the weekend in Levittown.

Francis Zydzik, 56, of Circle Road in the Levittown section of Middletown, is charged with felony aggravated assault charges and several misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and simple assault, according to a docket sheet.

The incident is alleged to have started Saturday at about 10 p.m. with a son picking his intoxicated father up from bar and ended with three shots fired at from a handgun.

Zydzik’s son picked his father up at Miller’s Ale House on East Lincoln Highway Saturday evening. His father was out earlier in the evening at a concert with family in Philadephia, court documents state. A police complaint mentions the 56-year-old left after getting “too friendly” with several woman.

During the ride home, the suspect tried to grab the steering wheel as his son drove. To stop his dad, the son head butted his father. The son also tried to take the keys, but had little luck. The son left the vehicle and decided to walk home after his father kept trying to grab the wheel and called him a slur, according to the affidavit.

Sign up for the Levittown Patch newsletter to get news, blogs and more sent directly to your inbox every morning.

When the son finally arrived to the base of his family’s Circle Road driveway, he asked his father, who had just driven home, if he was "for real" about the fight. The father then pulled a silver Colt Defender .45-caliber handgun on his son, police said.

“What are you gonna do, shoot me dad?” the son asked his father.

According to the affidavit, the answer: one gunshot rang out. Then, two more.

As Zydzik’s son hid behind a tree across the street from his father, Zydzik’s daughter hid in a bathroom and propped her feet against the door, court documents show. The siblings both dialed for police.

Luckily, authorities said, no one was hit by gunfire.

Arriving patrolman ordered the 56-year-old to the ground and took him into custody, the affidavit said. A responding officer indicated in court documents that Zydzik “ waited a few seconds before complying.

Officers reported recovering the .45.caliber gun inside on the kitchen of the Levittown house. One round was found and the chamber and three more remained in the magazine, court documents state.

The father is also accused of trying to break down the door to the bathroom where his daughter was hiding, police said. Officers found damage to the door when they were in the home.

According to police sources and court records, a team of police officials worked on the investigation over the weekend and recovered two of the spent shell casings.

Zydzik was released from county jail Sunday on 10 percent of $150,000 bail, prison records show.