A Gary man is accused of stealing a gun that he proceeded to used to threaten two Hammond women.
Joshua O. Mitchell is charged with intimidation, a Level 5 felony; theft, a Level 5 felony; unlawful carrying of a handgun-prior felony conviction, a Level 5 felony; and misdemeanor battery resulting in bodily injury and interference with the reporting of a crime.
In the late evening hours of July 19, Hammond Police were dispatched to the 2200 block of Woodhollow Lane in Hammond, according to the probable cause affidavit. A woman who lived at the residence said she was there with her mother and a man and woman who were acquaintances. She told police that an altercation started, and Mitchell yelled at her, court records state. He then physically assaulted her and pushed her mother to the ground.
When she tried to call 911, Mitchell took her phone, went to his silver Audi, and retrieved a gun that he proceeded to point at and threaten to shoot the woman and her mother with, records state. By the time police arrived, the acquaintances had fled the scene.
The woman told police she suffered scratches to her shin and right hand, and her mother sustained scrapes on her left elbow and her phone was damaged, the affidavit states.
Shortly after the incident occurred, an officer pulled over a silver Audi, registered to Mitchell, that was being driven by the female acquaintance outside the Woodhollow Lane residence. The officer found a gun under the front passenger seat that had been reported as stolen in Gary, records state. The owner of the gun said Mitchell had taken it without asking and later asked her not to press charges.
