A 70-year-old man brandished a handgun at a friend of his neighbor’s who he thought was too close to his home Saturday night, police said.
After pointing the gun at the victim, the suspect went back inside his home and police had to negotiate with him to get him outside peacefully, authorities said.
Arthur Horne, 70, a resident of a mobile home park on Burnett Avenue, saw someone moving around in front of his home about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, according to Morgan Hill police Sgt. Troy Hoefling. He went outside and asked the man what he was doing, and the man said he was helping his friend – Horne’s neighbor – move some planter boxes that were too heavy for the neighbor to lift.
Horne “didn’t believe him, and pulled out a handgun from his waistband,” Hoefling said. “He waved it in a threatening manner, and went back into the house.”
Someone called 911, and police arrived and tried to get Horne to come back outside. After being contacted and asked to come outside at least four times, via phone calls and verbal orders from outside the home, Horne finally went outside and was arrested without further incident, Hoefling said.
Horne was arrested and booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of brandishing a weapon, carrying a firearm in public and resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer, Hoefling said.
The suspect was also under the influence of alcohol when he was arrested, police said.
Police also searched his home after he surrendered, and found the handgun in the home. The weapon was unloaded, but a clip full of live rounds was found next to the gun, Hoefling said.
“We don’t know if the gun was loaded at the time of the incident,” Hoefling said.
