St. Cloud Man Accused of Threatening a Woman and Pointing a Gun at Police

(KNSI) — A St. Cloud man was arrested and charged with four felonies after he allegedly threatened to harm himself and others, fleeing police and pointing a gun at them.

According to the criminal complaint, a woman called police and said her ex-boyfriend, 41-year-old Brandon Lewis Beard, had repeatedly sent her text messages throughout the day on Thursday, including one text message with a picture of a gun. In other messages, the woman said Beard was going to drink himself soulless and take his .45 hunting. He also is accused of threatening the woman’s boyfriend.

Police went to Beard’s home on the 1500 block of 24th Avenue North, but the woman said he was at her house in Sauk Rapids. When they got there, they learned that Beard left.

Police say they found Beard’s car in the parking lot of his apartment complex, and he drove away. The criminal complaint says officers tried to pull him over, but he refused and returned to the parking lot, where he is accused of getting out of his car and running toward his apartment building. Police say they saw Beard with a gun in his left hand, and he came out on his balcony with a gun in his hand.

Officers say they gave Beard commands to drop his weapon, but they say he raised it and pointed it at them. He then dropped the gun off the balcony and went back inside his apartment, where he was arrested.

A loaded .45 caliber Springfield XD semiautomatic handgun was recovered from the scene, according to the criminal complaint.

Beard has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of felony threats of violence.

He is due back in court on October 13th.

___