Posted: Sunday, March 6, 2011 8:00 am

The clip was on a laptop computer owned by an animal rights activist protesting outside a Carlton Pools in Warminster last month.

A video depicting a confrontation between a pair of animal rights activists and a gun-wielding man identified in court records as a Carlton Pools employee was obtained by the newspaper Friday.

The video was on a laptop computer that Warminster police seized Feb. 22, according to animal rights activist Steve Hindi. Hindi's laptop was released by the Bucks County District Attorney's Office to Digital Forensics Consultants, a Newtown computer forensics firm hired by Hindi to see if the laptop or video were tampered with while being held by authorities and to examine what areas of the laptop were searched.

District Attorney David Heckler said Friday that the incident remains under investigation. No one has been charged.

Hindi and Janet Enoch of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, said they gave police their video camera but were unhappy police seized the laptop as well.

Police said Hindi's laptop and the camera were connected at the time he reported the incident and authorities have said they wanted to ensure that the recording wasn't altered. Hindi said he merely uploaded the video to his laptop.

On Feb. 28, investigators obtained a search warrant for that laptop. The warrant was based on statements from Robert Olsen, an operations manager for Carlton Pools, and Hindi.

According to court records, Olsen called police about 11:11 a.m. to report that the protesters, Hindi and two women were blocking the driveway to the Carlton Pools location on York Road. Earlier on the morning of Feb. 22, a light snow had fallen, coating the driveway, which blended in with the lawn. Olsen told police that Hindi was blocking the driveway, causing Olsen to stop with part of his SUV blocking traffic on York Road, according to court records.

Hindi told police that Olsen sped into the parking lot and nearly struck him.

After Olsen parked, he saw Hindi approaching taking pictures of his vehicle, so he moved the SUV to another parking area at the back of the Carlton Pools building.

Hindi said he was attempting to get a license plate for Olsen's vehicle and believed that Olsen was video-taping him at the time.

Olsen told police that later, as he returned from lunch with some coworkers they noticed the protesters getting ready to leave. The Carlton pool employees then attempted to get the protester's license plates, Olsen said. But he saw a white van following him and he made several turns to try and shake them off his tail, according to court records. Then Olsen stopped on Lemon Street near the post office and Hindi stopped behind him.

Olsen said he asked Hindi what he wanted, but then turned as a woman was screaming and running at him holding a camera. He said he put his hand up and pushed it back, according to court records. Olsen said he was then struck in the face by an unknown object. He said he was disoriented and remembers stumbling backward and suddenly having his gun in his hand with the holster on it, according to the police. He pulled the holster off and ordered Hindi to the ground, Olsen told police. Olsen said he then re-holstered his gun, got back in the SUV and called 911 as he drove away. He said he never grabbed the woman, her camera and there was no contact between he and Enoch. Olsen told police he has a broken tooth as a result of the incident.

One of Olsen's coworkers told police he saw Hindi punch Olsen with a closed fist as Olsen raised his hand to the camera.

Hindi and Enoch said Olsen grabbed her wrists as she held the camera and Hindi pushed Olsen away from Enoch. Hindi told police in pushing Olsen he may have made contact with Olsen's face, according to court records.

The video is available at www.phillyburbs.com.

It begins with a brief chase through the streets of Warminster involving a red SUV. The video was shot by Enoch from inside a van driven by Hindi. The chase ends, and Olsen and Hindi, who is off-camera, exchange heated words.

Olsen can be heard asking what Hindi wants, and Hindi asks if he's trying to intimidate the protesters.

"Anyway, anytime I can," Olsen can be heard responding. "+Anytime I want to and this is my neighborhood. Is it your neighborhood?"

Then Olsen's hand can be seen reaching toward and covering the video camera's lens. The video shakes for a few seconds, during which a feminine voice says, "Don't touch me."

When the video is righted again, Olsen is backing away. Olsen pulls a handgun with the holster still on it, removes the holster and points it at Hindi.

"You hit me, get on the ground (expletive)," Olsen says.

He then asks coworker who has also exited his red SUV to call police, while another man appears to be using a smart phone to record the event. However, Olsen holsters the pistol, he and his coworker get back in the SUV and drive away.

At that point Hindi calls 911 to report an assault.

Matt Coughlin can be reached at 215-345-3147, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and atwww.twitter.com/coughlinreports