By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
A 72-year-old man was arrested this week after allegedly firing a BB gun at a child he believed had been doorbell ditching his home.
Curtis Berry was taken into custody July 2 and booked into the Iron County Correctional Facility on suspicion of third-degree felony aggravated assault, following an incident that occurred two days earlier.
According to court documents, officers responded to a weapons offense call on July 1 after a juvenile reported being confronted by Berry while riding his bike to a friend’s house. The boy told officers that Berry yelled, “You guys knock it off,” before cocking what sounded like a gun and firing two shots. The boy said he heard the projectiles whiz past him and believed he was being shot at.
The boy immediately told his friend’s father what had happened. The man confronted Berry, who allegedly admitted to retrieving a BB gun from his garage and firing two shots into the air as a warning to “intimidate” the kids because he believed they had been knocking on his door and running off.
Berry later told officers he had seen two kids across the street and yelled at them before firing the gun in the air from the edge of his property near the sidewalk.
“Contact was made with Berry at his residence, he stated someone was beating on his door. He went to his garage and grabbed his BB gun and left his residence,” the affidavit states.
Police allege Berry discharged the gun intentionally as a show of force and to scare the children. No injuries were reported.
“Berry produced the gun to intimidate or threaten (the boy). He then fired two shots as a show of force,” court documents state.
The Enoch City Police Department arrested Berry and booked him into the Iron County Jail.