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Posted by: Inspector

By Elizabeth Dinan, Portsmouth Herald

PORTSMOUTH, NH— Following a Thursday evening melee, an Osprey Drive couple is accused of threatening a downtown crowd of people with a loaded handgun, punching a church leader who offered them help, kicking another good Samaritan and threatening police officers with a knife.
The accused, Lawrence Lang, 32, of 8 Osprey Drive, and Jaimee Ruccolo, 26, of the same address, were arraigned in Portsmouth District Court Friday and ordered held on cash or surety bail.
Lang is charged with second-degree assault, two felony counts of criminal threatening with a knife, felony criminal threatening with a handgun and felony reckless conduct with a firearm.
Ruccolo is charged with four felony counts of reckless conduct with a firearm, four felony counts of criminal threatening with a firearm, second-degree assault and carrying a concealed firearm without a license.
During their arraignment, prosecutor Corey MacDonald told the court police were called to St. John's Episcopal Church Thursday at 9:30 p.m. for a report of a fight with a handgun being shown.
MacDonald testified that as an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was letting out at the Chapel Street church, witnesses saw Ruccolo lying unconscious on the ground, with Lang standing over her.
According to police and witness reports, said MacDonald, bystanders offered to help the couple, were told by Lang to "mind their own (expletive) business" and a fight ensued.
When Ruccolo woke up, the police sergeant testified, she pulled a seven-inch Klock .45 handgun from her purse and shouted, "I'm going to shoot every (expletive) one of you."
Police allege that during a subsequent scuffle, Lang also had possession of the gun and used it to threaten people.
Police said Ruccolo knocked a good Samaritan to the ground, then kicked him. Another victim who "runs the church," said MacDonald, was punched in the face by Lang and hospitalized.
MacDonald said as police arrived, Lang ran behind the church and hid behind a trash bin. Sgt. Michael Ronchi testified that officers began searching for him with flashlights and when they located him, three officers saw "something shiny" in his hand.
MacDonald testified that Lang then charged at the officers with a knife, shouting, "shoot me, shoot me." He was subdued with a police Taser and a box cutter was found at his feet, testified Ronchi.
Both are alleged to have been intoxicated.
During their arraignment, the couple spoke in their own defense. Lang, who said he is a Newington-based lobsterman, told the court he did not have the gun or a knife in his possession. He also denied charging at police and asking them to shoot him.
Ruccolo, who was wearing a shirt that said "Italian princess" on the front and "Don't (expletive) bother" on the back, told the court she works for a downtown law firm and expected to be represented by one or all of the partners.
She testified that she is pregnant and she fainted, and when she came to, a crowd of people were "jumping" Lang, her boyfriend. She said their belongings were strewn about the area in the process and she picked up the gun, but did not threaten anyone with it.
"Someone said, 'She's got a handgun and she's going to start shooting,'" said Ruccolo. "I'm an upstanding citizen of this community. I got knocked out by people who jumped us."
After reading numerous related reports, Judge Sharon DeVries set Lang's bail at $50,000 cash or surety and ordered him to return to the court for a June 4 probable cause hearing. Ruccolo's bail was set at $5,000 cash or surety and her hearing was also scheduled for June 4.
As part of their bail conditions, the judge ordered both to surrender their passports. Ruccolo Protested, telling the judge that she had planned a trip to Bermuda but the judge did not respond.

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