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Chef is sentenced to jail for shooting two Bucks County homes with a BB gun

Andrew P. Abruzzese, 38, had been the public face of his family’s popular Pineville Tavern in Buckingham Township and made its signature snapper soup on the Guy Fieri show "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."

Andrew P. Abruzzese, who briefly operated the Philadelphia location of Pineville Tavern (pictured), was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to charges related to his firing a BB gun at two occupied houses late one night in February 2020.
Andrew P. Abruzzese, who briefly operated the Philadelphia location of Pineville Tavern (pictured), was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to charges related to his firing a BB gun at two occupied houses late one night in February 2020.Read moreMICHAEL KLEIN / Staff

A Bucks County chef this week began serving a three-to-23-month term in the county jail after pleading guilty to charges related to his firing a BB gun at two occupied houses one night in February 2020.

After his release, Andrew P. Abruzzese, 38, has been ordered to report for probation in Palm Beach County, Fla., where he had pleaded guilty to forgery and drug charges related to a separate incident.

Abruzzese had been the public face of his family’s popular Pineville Tavern in Buckingham Township and appeared in 2011 making its signature snapper soup on the Guy Fieri show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Abruzzese, known as Drew, also briefly operated a Philadelphia branch of the Pineville in 2018 and 2019 with his father, Andrew.

A criminal complaint signed by the Solebury and Upper Makefield Police Departments alleged that late on the evening of Feb. 3, 2020, a driver of a silver Audi shot at a house in Upper Makefield, as captured on the homeowner’s video surveillance video. One adult and two children were inside the house.

Nearly two hours later, the report said, “a possible Audi type vehicle” pulled into a cul de sac in Solebury, where two adults and two children were inside a home. Video surveillance showed a driver firing several shots at the house, driving a short distance, and firing again. The house and a car in the driveway had “significant damage,” the report said.

Police said the homeowners told them that they had a falling out with Abruzzese and that he drove an Audi.

Abruzzese pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering another person and criminal mischief. In addition to receiving jail time, Abruzzese was ordered to pay restitution for the property damage.

Abruzzese, who later relocated to Boca Raton, Fla., was arrested in Delray Beach, Fla., in March 2021 after a hotel reported that he had used a fake ID and forged credit cards to rent a room, where cocaine was found in a safe.

Abruzzese was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 75 hours of community service, according to Palm Beach County records. This month, the court allowed him to travel to Bucks County to begin serving his jail term, which the records specified as 90 days. Within 72 hours of his release, the court ordered, Abruzzese must return to Palm Beach County for probation.