Man arrested after allegedly threatening people with baseball bat at an elementary school
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IDAHO FALLS – A 29-year-old man was arrested after he reportedly attacked multiple people with a baseball bat, starting at an elementary school.
Ricardo Arellano-Orta is charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or instrument.
On Monday around 3:10 p.m., Idaho Falls Police were called to AH Bush Elementary School after getting a report that a man was swinging a baseball bat at a car, according to court documents.
When officers arrived, the suspect, later identified as Arellano-Orta, was driving away in a black Ford Fusion. Officers say the Ford drove west on West Anderson Street, but they could not catch up to it.
Officers went back to the school and contacted two witnesses, one of whom was a relative of Arellano-Orta.
The relative said Arellano-Orta had been harassing him lately and “tried to run him over with the Ford” that morning.
Arellano-Orta reportedly came to the school and approached the relative before threatening him with a white and silver baseball bat.
According to the relative, Arellano-Orta said something similar to “I will make you resent.”
Police records say the witnesses stated they were “afraid of (Arellano-Orta) due to his erratic actions.”
Later that day, dispatch received a call saying Arellano-Orta was threatening people on Whispering Pines Drive.
An officer pulled Arellano-Orta over near 12th Street and Woodruff Avenue, where he was handcuffed and interviewed.
According to police reports, Arellano-Orta said he went to the school to talk to the two witnesses, and his relative told him, “I will kill you b****.”
Arellano-Orta stated the relative raised his shirt above his waistband, but admitted he never saw a gun or a knife on his waistband.
Arellano-Orta then “grabbed a bat and threatened (the relative) with it.”
Officers then searched Arellano-Orta’s car and found a black, white, and silver Louisville slugger bat. He also had multiple bank cards belonging to one of the witnesses.
Arellano-Orta was arrested and booked into the Bonneville County Jail on a bond of $40,000. A no-contact order was issued for the victims, and Arellano-Orta is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on March 22.
If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
Though Arellano-Orta has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.