Gun-related charges filed against six
Four adults and two juveniles are facing charges after members of their group waved a gun out the car window and made gang signs as the vehicle traveled up and down a road in Sawyer the afternoon of Feb. 2.By: Jana Peterson, Pine Journal
Four adults and two juveniles are facing charges after members of their group waved a gun out the car window and made gang signs as the vehicle traveled up and down a road in Sawyer the afternoon of Feb. 2.
At least two of the charges stem from a juvenile male allegedly possessing the handgun, explained Assistant Carlton County Attorney Michael Boese, who noted that is a felony for any juvenile to possess a pistol.
David James Barney, James Orville Councillor and Morgan Rae Delille, all 18 years old, face charges of felony aiding and abetting possession of a pistol by a minor, aid and abet reckless handling/use of a weapon (a misdemeanor), and felony terroristic threats. Another man – who will remain unnamed by the Pine Journal until charged in court – faces a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon in addition to the same three charges filed against Barney, Councillor and Delille. Barney is also charged with fifth degree felony possession of a controlled substance, in this case morphine.
The 17-year-old juvenile male who allegedly fired the pistol is charged with felony possession of a pistol by a minor, terroristic threats and reckless handling of a weapon. The juvenile female, 15, faces the same aid and abet charges as the adults in the case as well as felony terroristic threats. She is also charged with giving a false name and birthdate to law enforcement officials.
According to the criminal complaint and law enforcement reports:
At approximately 4:20 p.m. Feb. 2, law enforcement officials from the Carlton County Sheriff’s Department and the Fond du Lac Police Department responded to a report of 10-12 shots being fired at an address on the 3600 block of West Moorhead Road. The complainant also stated that a juvenile male flashed gang signs and then got into a car and drove past the same house several more times flashing gang signs and waving a “loaded pistol” several times at the witness.
Officers eventually located and stopped the car near the intersection of Davis and West Moorhead roads. Five people were in the car at the time; one man was released because he told officers he was simply getting a ride from Councillor. However, subsequent investigations revealed that he was one of the people waving the gun out the window of the car and Boese said he is asking that a warrant be issued for his arrest.
Officers located the loaded handgun under the front passenger seat and later determined it had been reported stolen in St. Louis County.
The girl was later identified as a runaway from the Carlton Youth Shelter, where she’d been housed because of three previous Carlton County warrants, according to the one of the deputy’s reports.
Boese said the juvenile male charged in the case actually owns a home along the West Moorhead Road, even though he is only 17.
“Runaway children have hidden there, and there are a lot of law enforcement calls to this house,” Boese said, noting that there is a history of complaints about shots being fired at the home owned by the juvenile male. “This is an important case because the problems seem to be escalating. It’s gone beyond the home.”
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