Man arrested after allegedly pointing gun at group of teens at park
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IDAHO FALLS – A local man has been charged with a felony after threatening a group of teenagers and pointing a gun at them.
Dallas Jack Jensen, 19, was charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, misdemeanor pedestrian under the influence of alcohol and misdemeanor alcoholic beverages in a park on July 29.
During his initial appearance Monday, he did not plead to the felony charge and pleaded not guilty to the two misdemeanor charges.
Idaho Falls police responded to a weapons call at Tautphaus Park around 11 p.m. Friday. The caller told officers that a man in a black Hummer pointed a gun at several people near the skate park.
Police found the man, identified as Jensen, along with the black Hummer, parked in the middle of the road across from the skate park. When they went to speak to him, officers saw a loaded, black handgun sitting on the drivers seat.
During a search of the vehicle, officers also found a red ice chest filled with “Twisted Tea” alcoholic beverages, according to police records.
Officers say Jensen, “appeared intoxicated during the felony stop and (was) partially uncooperative,” so he was “placed in double locked handcuffs” and seated in the back of a police car.
The officers asked him about the incident and Jensen “began to blabber about joining the Army, and that he had got into a verbal argument with some people at the skate park,” according to court records.
Police asked if he had a gun, and he said no, to which they asked him about the gun on his car seat. Jensen said it was his mother’s boyfriend’s gun and he didn’t know how it got there.
Jensen also told police that “he never pulled a gun on anyone because he is joining the Army in October.” He said “he was drunk, having drank about four twisted teas.”
Officers interviewed a witness, who told them he had been sitting in his car and watched the incident happen.
The witness said he “observed Jensen get in a verbal argument with a group of other people at the park.” The witness saw Jensen get a black handgun from his car and “point it at the group of people and then wave it in the air.”
The witness said he then got out of his car and attempted to “physically remove the firearm from Jensen and was successful in doing so.” When officers arrived, the witness was placing the gun on the drivers seat of the Hummer, according to police records.
The victim, one of the people in the group at the skate park, told police that he saw Jensen with the gun, waving it in the air, but did not see him point it at the group. He told officers that he felt “he was in danger of being injured or killed,” and told the group to leave until police arrived.
Jensen was arrested and booked into the Bonneville County Jail, a no-contact order was issued for the victims, and Jensen’s bond was set at $50,000. He later posted bail and was released.
Though Jensen has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
Jensen is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 17. If convicted, he could face up to 5 years in prison.