Tenants have rights, but not the right to throw water glasses at a landlord.

Louise Johnson, of East Liberty, was reminded of that fact Wednesday afternoon when District Judge Charles McLaughlin ordered her held for court on charges of simple assault and terroristic threats.

It was the latest episode of a long-running disagreement between Ms. Johnson, 63, a former child care manager for a health care agency, and her landlord, Monte Miller, of Morningside.

Ms. Johnson called me in October because Mr. Miller had refused her repeated requests to turn on the furnace to heat a two-bedroom apartment she shares with her 14-year-old granddaughter. I relayed her problem to the Allegheny County Health Department.

A Health Department inspector visited the first-floor apartment and confirmed the temperature was in the low 60s. The department requires landlords to maintain at least 68 degrees of heat.

The inspector also found other violations of the health code, including electrical outlets that didn't work and windows that didn't operate properly.

After getting the furnace back on, Mr. Miller called Ms. Johnson. He said he would stop by Nov. 10 to put a cover plate on one of the electrical outlets in the kitchen area that didn't work, a job that usually takes only a few minutes.

When more than a few minutes had passed, Ms. Johnson walked into the utility room and found him disconnecting her washer and dryer. She was furious. She told him to get out of the apartment. He said he would when he finished his work because "she knew I was going to disconnect the washer and dryer."

"She started screaming and hollering at me," Mr. Miller told the judge. "She threw a water glass at me and missed. She threw another one and hit me in the knee. I told her she wasn't going to hit me again.

"She walked into a bedroom and came back out with a gun in one hand and a phone in the other. She was standing about seven or eight feet away. She pointed the gun right at me. She said she was going to blow my head off. She said she had called 911. I also called 911."

City police Officer Katherine Cischke, one of two officers who responded, testified that the police dispatcher told them while they were en route that a woman caller "had threatened to shoot" a man who was in her apartment.

Officer Cischke said Ms. Johnson "didn't have a weapon in her hands" when she and the other officer arrived at the scene. She said Ms. Johnson "was cooperative, but upset." She said she and her partner found Mr. Miller in the kitchen and a broken glass near by.

When Officer Cischke asked about a gun, Ms. Johnson said she kept one under her mattress. She retrieved the black .22 caliber weapon and gave it to the officers. She denied pulling it out and pointing it at Mr. Miller.

"There was no crime here because he was trespassing in her apartment," defense attorney Erika Kreisman told the judge.

Assistant District Attorney Heather Kelly disagreed.

"He's the landlord," Ms. Kelly said. "She wasn't supposed to be using the washer and dryer, and he had the right to disconnect them."

Mr. Miller and Ms. Johnson will meet in court again on May 22.

"I'm going to win next time," Ms. Johnson said. She moved out Feb. 26.