Safford police officers arrested a man for false reporting on Tuesday, September 19, 2023. The man claimed that several people forced their way into his home, threatened him with a knife and held a gun to his head. Responding officers found the reporting party standing in the roadway with his shirt off. The man told officers that he and several other men had been drinking at local bars. When the men took the alleged victim home, he claimed that they forced their way into his home and began attacking him. The man initially stated that an unidentified man wearing a black shirt attempted to stab him. He showed the officers two scratched on his stomach that were not consistent with a cut from a knife. The man said that the men jumped him and held a gun to his head before leaving the scene in a Jeep.
According to the police report the man was severely intoxicated, slurring his words, changing his story and saying unintelligible things. When asked if he actually saw a gun, he said that he felt something being held to his head and believed it to be a gun.
Officers were able to locate the other parties and get their side of the story. They told investigators that they had been out drinking and the man was being aggressive with the bartenders and others at the bar. They said they took the man home and assisted him into the house because of how drunk he was. Before the group was able to leave, the intoxicated man came back out with a machete, which the group was able to take from him without anybody getting hurt.
Police went back to the alleged victim’s home and talked to him on the front porch. They questioned the man about his story. He eventually admitted that he did not know if anybody had a gun or a knife. He said that being jumped by 5 guys made him feel like there was a gun to his head. The officers explained that just because the man felt like there was a gun, doesn’t mean there actually was one. They told him they had to leave other priority calls and race to his house with lights and sirens because they were told somebody forced their way into his house with a gun.
The man was placed under arrest. A preliminary breath test showed his blood alcohol level to be 0.144. On the way to the jail, the man told officers that he knew he messed up and said some stupid things.
