Man arrested for allegedly pointing a BB gun at people over dog bite dispute
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IDAHO FALLS — A 44-year-old man was arrested after a police officer reportedly saw him pointing a BB gun at multiple people and threatening to shoot them.
James Hathaway is charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
EastIdahoNews.com reached out to the public defender’s office for a comment from Hathaway or his assigned attorney, but we have not received a response. We will update this article if we receive a statement.
On Sept. 6, 2023, court documents say an Idaho Falls Animal Control officer was investigating a dog bite on South Boulevard. A pit bull had reportedly bitten another dog that was walking by.
While the animal control officer was investigating, they reportedly saw a man identified as Hathaway “point a gun at several people” in a nearby yard. Court documents indicate that it was actually a BB gun.
An Idaho Falls Police officer detained Hathaway and two others: a woman and a man.
The woman reportedly told the officer that she was in the home when she saw Hathaway “grab a rifle and take it to the door.”
The officer then spoke to the two victims who allegedly had the weapon pointed at them. The victims said their daughter was walking her small dog past the home when a pit bull attacked her dog.
The girl’s parents said they had come to the house to determine who owned the pit bull. They knocked on the door and Hathaway reportedly “pulled out a rifle and pointed it at (the girl’s mother) through the screen door,” says court documents.
The victim said that Hathaway also made a threat to shoot them. The girl’s mother told the officer she “was terrified.”
The girl’s father said he was standing on the sidewalk and saw Hathaway point the rifle at his wife, but was “unsure of what he was seeing, so he took a couple of steps toward the door.” He told the officer that he heard Hathaway say he “was going to shoot the people on his property.” He responded that he was “on the sidewalk and not on the property.”
During an interview with police, Hathaway “thought there was a gang fight outside his house and that it might also be the same people that murdered some family members of his.” He then reportedly told officers that when someone knocked on his door, he “decided to protect himself by getting the gun and pointing it at the people outside.”
In their report, the officer writes that Hathaway’s “assumptions of what was happening outside were nothing close to what actually happened.”
Hathaway was arrested and booked into the Bonneville County Jail on a $10,000.
The case was initially underway in 2023, but the charges were dismissed in March 2024 due to the judge finding that the “state failed to prove by substantial evidence that the public offense noted above (w)as committed,” according to court records.
Hathaway was charged again regarding these allegations on June 3.
It is not clear what new evidence was presented that led to the charges being reinstated.
EastIdahoNews.com has reached out to Bonneville Prosecutor Randy Neal for clarification, but we have not heard back. We will update this article if we receive a response.
He is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on July 7. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.