Man charged with holding gun to cable repairman

By BILL SCHANEN IV

Ozaukee Press staff

An Ozaukee County Circuit Court judge set bail at $15,000 Monday for a 65-year-old Grafton man charged with holding a gun to the chest of a cable repairman and ordering the Spectrum employee to leave his apartment Saturday, March 25.

The repairman escaped uninjured, but Jon W. Freeland refused to leave his home in the Arrowhead Apartments on Delaware Avenue when ordered to by police and at one point asked an officer who called him if he should come out with his Smith & Wesson or Beretta, referring to brands of guns, according to a criminal complaint.

Officers evacuated nearby apartment complex residents and notified negotiators and the Ozaukee County Special Response Team, the Grafton Police Department said. At 9:40 p.m. Saturday, Freeland surrendered and was arrested.

Freeland is charged with failure to comply with officers attempting to arrest him and second-degree recklessly endangering safety, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of pointing a gun at a person.

Officers were called to Freeland’s apartment at 7:25 p.m. by the repairman, who told them he was working in a bedroom when he heard Freeland say, “Hey, get out of here” twice.

The repairman said he thought Freeland was talking to a dog that was in the apartment, but when Freeland repeated the command the man walked into the hallway to see what he wanted and saw him pick up a gun, according to the complaint.

The man said Freeland told him to “get the (expletive) out,” charged at him and pressed the barrel of the gun against his chest while saying, “You should have been done an hour ago,” the complaint states. According to the police department, the repairman said that when he turned to leave the apartment, Freeland held the gun to his back, then shoved him out the door.

In addition to setting Freeland’s bail at $15,000, Judge Paul Malloy ordered him not to have contact with the repairman or Spectrum, maintain absolute sobriety and surrender his guns and ammunition to authorities before being released from jail.