A Bristol Borough man turned himself into authorities late last month accused of leaving a handgun out on his porch overnight.
Johnny Dee Spears Jr., 35 of Bristol was arraigned by District Court Judge Frank W. Peranteau Sr. on August 31, on charges of reckless endangerment, possession of a weapon, and disorderly conduct.
The charges stem from an incident reported to police by a neighbor about Spears on July 27, according to the criminal complaint filed on August 25.
The complaint alleges a Spears’ neighbor found a loaded gun on his porch the morning of July 27. After retrieving the weapon and storing it in his 500 block Jefferson Avenue home, the neighbor contacted Chief of Police Joe Moors
Moors waited upon the neighbor to come home from work meeting him to take possession of the gun and interview, witnesses, court records show.
Police interviewed a woman identified as Spears’ wife. She said she was co-owner of the weapon found on the front porch, investigators wrote in court papers.
Moors headed to his vehicle to take the weapon to police headquarters for “investigative purposes.”
As he was about to leave, Spears approached Chief Moors’ vehicle asking why he was taking the gun.
Spears admitted to Moors, according to court records, he was the owner of the gun.
Moors repeated the reasoning for taking possession of the gun, adding he would be contacted the following day to come into headquarters for an interview.
Officers interviewed a second witness, who provided video evidence of the gun being placed by Spears outside at 7:30 pm the prior evening. About one- hour later, four children are seen walking by the home where the fully loaded weapon was sitting.
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Additionally the same witness told the police, according to the criminal complaint, she saw the gun sitting outside in front of a pillar on the porch of Spears’ home and was alarmed by the weapons presence.
Police researched the weapons ownership history through a county records, discovering there was no owner listed for the gun, court records show.
Spears was interviewed by Police on August 4, telling police he made a huge mistake leaving the loaded weapon outside all night. He told Police he “knows better” since he served in the armed services. He told police, one of his children was injured in the house on the night in question. Went into his home to provide aide to his child and forget about the gun.
Spears is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on October 26.
His bail was set at 10 percent of $20,000.00 unsecured.
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