Bend resident accused of brandishing replica handgun arrested, jailed on DUII, released – and arrested again
(Update: Police explain initial charge, gun not seized; initial court appearance)
Accused of pointing what turned out to be replica several more times
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend 19-year-old was arrested and jailed on a drunk-driving charge early Tuesday after allegedly brandishing a handgun at convenience store workers. He was later released to a responsible third party – then arrested and jailed again hours later on menacing charges, accused of brandishing the gun several more times.
Police said it turned out to be a replica handgun, designed to look real.
Around 1:15 a.m. Tuesday, police were called to the 7-Eleven on NW Galveston Avenue on a report of someone who brandished a gun at workers, then left in a white Mercedes-Benz sedan, police Communications Manager Sheila Miller said.
About 45 minutes later, a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy found the car and pulled the driver over on suspicion of DUII, Miller said. He was arrested by Bend police and booked into the county jail around 4 a.m. on charges of DUII-alcohol, minor in possession of alcohol and driving with a suspended license.
A jail official said the 19-year-old was released to a responsible third party around 7:30 a.m.
Around noon, police were dispatched to a report a driver of a white Mercedes Benz sedan heading south on Third Street who “brandished a handgun at a pedestrian, aiming and cocking it,” Miller said in a news release.
Shortly before 1 p.m., another caller reported a man at a 76 gas station on Northeast Third Street had brandished a handgun in similar fashion, then drove away. Miller said both alleged victims gave the same description of the man with the gun, who they didn’t know.
Police identified the suspect, and around 1:40 p.m. found his car parked and unoccupied at a shopping center at Southeast Third Street and Reed Market Road.
Due to the previous calls involving an apparent handgun, several officers responded to the area and the man was taken into custody around 2 p.m. Police soon found the handgun was a replica.
The suspect was taken back to the county jail, where he was booked late Tuesday afternoon on two counts each of menacing and second-degree disorderly conduct.
This time, he was held without bail, jail records show.
After questions arose about why the man wasn’t charged in the initial brandishing or the replica gun wasn’t seized then, Miller explained: “We did not have probable cause to charge him in the incident at the 7-Eleven. Any search of his vehicle and person would have been related to the crime of DUII.”
The man was arraigned Tuesday on Initial charges of menacing and second-degree disorderly conduct, Class A and B misdemeanors. He’s scheduled to enter a plea on Feb. 15.
