Bend man arrested for threatening teens with gun

Dec 24,2007 00:00 by Cheryl McDermott

A 21-year old Bend man was arrested Saturday evening and charged with a dozen crimes after he allegedly threatened three teenagers with a handgun as he banged on a pay phone in a grocery store parking lot Saturday night, police reported.

Nicholas H. Bennett - DCJ photo

Bend Police officers were dispatched to the Safeway parking lot at 2650 Highway 20E about 7:30 p.m., December 22, after the teens reported that a man displayed a gun and threatened them with it as they walked past while he was “banging” on the phone, Lt. Ken Stenkamp said.

Officers contacted the victims; 18-year-old Erica Giesking, Melissa Krohn, 15, and Elliott Michaels, 17, all from Bend; at the scene, but were first unable to locate the suspect.

Following a search of the parking lot, Nicholas H. Bennett, 21, was located and taken into custody without further incident. A semi-automatic handgun was recovered after the arrest, the lieutenant reported.

Bennett was lodged in the Deschutes County Jail and faces three counts each of menacing, unlawful possession of a weapon, reckless endangering, and pointing a firearm at another.