FAYETTEVILLE -- Police arrested a man in Fayetteville early Thursday after a woman said he pointed a gun at her family in their car.
James Dennis, 29, of 731 N. Van Gogh Drive in Fayetteville, was arrested in connection with five counts of aggravated assault and possessing instruments of crime, a firearm. Dennis was released from the Washington County Detention Center on Thursday on $50,000 bond. His arraignment is set for April 17 in Washington County Circuit Court.
Police were called to a report of an armed person at 1147 N. Colorado Drive in Fayetteville about 12:36 a.m. Thursday, according to a preliminary police report filed with prosecutors. The caller and her husband told police a man in a maroon Hyundai wearing a blue hoodie had pointed a pistol at them after the Hyundai cut off her vehicle at the intersection of West Wedington Drive and North Salem Road. The man yelled, "I got something for you."
The caller was delivering food and had her husband and three children, ages 2, 10 and 12, in the vehicle with her, according to the report.
The caller told police the Hyundai had pulled into a nearby restaurant, according to the report. Police went to the restaurant and made contact with Dennis, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Hyundai. They located a Glock pistol with a flashlight mounted on it. Dennis was arrested for purposefully displaying and pointing the pistol at the family, creating a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to all five occupants.