A San Mateo man is facing multiple felony charges after he allegedly opened fire at an SUV carrying three high school boys who had poured oil over his porch and egged his home, authorities said.
Craig Miceli, 54, told police officers that his daughter had been a victim of constant bullying at her high school and that he was infuriated by the pranksters’ antics, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the boys — two of them age 16 and another 17 — targeted the San Mateo home of a female classmate they did not like from Hillsdale High School.
First they spread oil over Miceli’s front porch on Friday. Then they returned in the early hours of Sunday morning and each threw an egg at his home.
Miceli fought yolk with lead, allegedly firing two shots at the boys’ SUV, one of which struck the panel above the front passenger side wheel, according to the D.A.’s Office.
He told police officers that he was already upset about having to spend time cleaning oil off his porch prior to the egging incident, so he angrily grabbed his gun and fired it at the boys’ car tires, prosecutors said. Miceli said he then dumped the weapon into Water Dog Lake.
Police later obtained a search warrant and recovered an illegal automatic rifle and several types of ammunition from his home.
Miceli was charged with three counts of assault with a firearm, one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle and two counts related to an unlawful assault weapon. He was arraigned in San Mateo Superior Court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The court issued a protective order banning Miceli from contacting the teenagers. His bail was set at $25,000, and he is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on June 9, according to the D.A.’s Office.
