Cops: Teen Made Grandma, 74, Smoke Marijuana

APRIL 21--A Pennsylvania man allegedly forced his grandmother to smoke marijuana with him, threatened her life, and emptied the elderly woman’s bank account, according to police.

Andrew Jordan Demkowich is facing a variety of criminal charges stemming from the incident Monday at the Scranton home he shared with Barbara Demkowich, his 74-year-old grandmother.

Demkowich, 19, was arrested by cops who found him sleeping on a chair in the living room. He had a “partially burnt ‘blunt’ sitting on the top of his sweat pants,” according to a probable cause affidavit. The blunt appeared to have burned a hole in the pants of the teenager, who is pictured in the mug shot at right.

When a Scranton cop asked if he made his grandmother smoke the pot, Demkowich “said she smoked it with him because he wanted her to.” He denied striking his grandmother, but noted that, “I might grab her arms when she tries putting her hands on me.”

The elderly woman told police that she feared her grandson, and accused him of abusing her on several occasions. “I can’t ever come back here, he’s gonna come back and kill me,” she said.

After she was forced to write him a check for the balance in her account--$98--Demkowich said that he “forced her to smoke marijuana with him.” When the teen “passed out,” his grandmother called her son, who summoned police.

Demkowich, charged with one felony and six misdemeanors, is jailed in lieu of $2000 bond. Records show that Demkowich was busted last March in Fort Myers, Florida, on narcotics charges. He was placed into an early intervention program, which is usually offered to first-time offenders. (2 pages)