A 62-year-old man is accused of threatening his neighbor with a gun, then reaching for it when he encountered police.
Dennis R. Lucht, Clintonville, is charged with second-degree reckless endangerment with a weapon, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, pointing a firearm at another person, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and resisting an officer.
At 9:42 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, a woman called Clintonville police and reported that she was out of town, but her boyfriend was sending her text messages and calling her about her downstairs neighbor. She said the man was banging on their door and had a gun.
When Sgt. Chris Wendorf arrived at the scene, he found a man with a gray beard and gray hair standing on the front porch, smoking.
According to the criminal complaint, when Wendorf told Lucht that he was responding to a complaint, Lucht replied that there was somebody upstairs who should not be there.
Wendorf then noticed that Lucht had a large black handgun in a holster on his waist under his jacket.
Wendorf told Lucht to put his hands in the air, instead he reached down and placed his hand on his weapon, the complaint says.
Wendorf drew his weapon. Lucht removed his hand from his gun, but he reportedly said he had the right to carry a gun.
After Officer Andy Arieta arrived, Wendorf stepped up onto the porch and grabbed Lucht’s right arm. After securing Lucht’s handgun, the officers escorted him to the squad car, where he began to struggle, the complaint says.
Police reported seizing a fully loaded 40-caliber semi-automatic pistol from Lucht. There was a round in the chamber.
Wendorf then spoke with the upstairs resident. The caller’s boyfriend said Lucht began beating on their apartment door at about 9 p.m. When he opened the door, Lucht walked in and demanded to know where the woman who lived there was. He said Lucht was holding a gun at his hip and pointing it at him.
The boyfriend had his young son with him. He asked Lucht to leave because he was scaring the boy.
Lucht left for a few minutes, then returned, banging on the door, the complaint says. When the boyfriend answered the door, Lucht allegedly pushed into the room, holding a gun and demanding the girlfriend’s cellphone number.
The boyfriend told police that Lucht claimed to be “the law around here and if there is any problems, he’d have to deal with him.”
Wendorf spoke to Lucht at the Clintonville Police Department. Lucht reportedly said he went upstairs because there were not supposed to be any children in the building and he was going to “deal with the situation on his own,” the complaint says.
A preliminary breath test indicated that Lucht had a 0.21 blood-alcohol content.