Three men accused of threatening to hunt down a Quakertown resident if he testified against a fourth person facing felony drug charges were arrested earlier this month by borough police.

                Raul Lopez, 28, of Quakertown; William Michael Vaughan III, 23, of Harleysville; and Corey Dick, 24, no fixed address, were remanded to Bucks County prison following their arrest and Oct. 6 arraignment before Quakertown District Judge  C. Robert Roth.

                Each defendant faces a variety of charges from a Sept. 9 incident.

                According the police criminal complaint filed in the Quakertown District Court, an Hispanic male brandishing a gun and a black male holding a kitchen knife pressured a witness to alter his testimony from an incident that occurred three months earlier.

                On July 16, the witness reported to authorities that someone named "Johnnie" fired a gun at him at the Bush House, located at 200 W. Broad Street, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

                Eventually, a local police officer pursued the shooting suspect, John Smith, on foot and arrested him. Authorities determined Smith, who was wanted for active warrants, fired a BB gun at the victim. Smith was found with a large quantity of drugs and police charged him with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. Smith was remanded to Bucks County prison, according to the affidavit.

                Then, on Sept. 9, the witness delivered a written notarized statement to the police saying he lied, did not want to press charges and would not testify against Smith, the affidavit states.

                However, later in the day, the witness returned to the police station and asked to have the statement back and told police he was forced to submit the statement.

                The witness told a borough officer that around noon on Sept. 9, a male neighbor named "Raul" asked him to come to his house in the unit block of Front Street because he wanted to trade some property. The witness told authorities he noticed a Chrysler 300 parked nearby and said a Hispanic male followed him into the house.

                After a brief conversation in the kitchen, the Hispanic male pulled out a copy of the witness's complaint against Smith, then brandished a handgun. A black male, later identified as Vaughan, then entered the room holding a knife, the court records state.

                The Hispanic male, later identified as Dick, grabbed a piece of paper and told the witness to write the statement, which he provided to authorities. The witness also told authorities the Hispanic male stole $150 from an envelope in his pocket.

                The Hispanic male drove the witness to get the statement notarized and take it to the police.

                The black male walked the witness into the police lobby but stayed out of the view of the secretary and told the witness what to say when he handed over the message, the witness told authorities.

                The men then dropped the witness off on Third Street near Apple Alley. He told police that he was fearful for him life.

                During their investigation of the case, police listened to several phone calls from Smith in prison to Vaughan, Dick and others, in which Smith expresses concern about what will happen to him if the witness testifies. According to the affidavit, the men made various statements that implied they would prevent the witness from testifying. Surveillance video from various locations during the incident supported the witness' claims to police.

                Lopez has been charged with 18 criminal counts, including felony charges of robbery, kidnapping, intimidating a witness and related conspiracy charges. He also faces misdemeanor charges of making terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, simple assault, theft by unlawful taking, fabricating physical evidence and related conspiracy charges.

                Dick, a convicted felon from Arizona, is accused of conspiracy to commit robbery, kidnapping to facilitate a felony, intimidating a witness to provide false testimony, unlawful restraint, terroristic threats, simple assault, theft by unlawful taking, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence as well as illegal possession a firearm and criminal solicitation.

                Vaughan, faces nine criminal conspiracy charges, including two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of robbery, kidnapping to facilitate a felony, witness intimidation, making terroristic threats, simple assault, theft by unlawful taking and fabricating physical evidence.

                Roth set Dick's bail at 10 percent of $750,000 during their arraignment. The judge set the bail for Lopez and Vaughan at 10 percent of $500,000.

                A preliminary hearing for all three defendants has been scheduled for Oct. 20.