Man Pulls Gun in Parking Lot
by Ben Hogwood

Morristown Police arrested an Morrisville man for allegedly pulling a
gun and ordering four people into a car in the McDonald's Restaraunt
parking area on Saturday, May 29.
Brian Bohannon, 21, was arraigned in Lamoille County Court and charged
with two counts of attempted unlawful restraint in the second degree and
two counts of simple assault, on Monday, June 1. According to the
affidavit, an employee of McDonald's called police at approximately
11:41 p.m. reporting that three girls came into the restaurant after a
man tried to get them into a car at gun point.
Corporal Eric Dodge arrived at the scene where he got a description of
the vehicle. While he was speaking with a group of people outside the
restaraunt, they spotted the vehicle in the Price Chopper parking lot.
Dodge followed the car, a white Chevrolet Cavalier with a black stripe,
and pulled it over in the Northgate Plaza. The car was being operated by
Stephen Lockwood, 21. Bohannon was the passenger.
Lockwood told Dodge that Bohannon was the owner of the weapon and gave
directions to where he had stashed it. Dodge found the weapon, a
Hi-Point Firearms Model CF380 semi automatic pistol, in a bush near
McDonald's. The gun had a magazine in it but was unloaded, stated the
affidavit.
While at the restaurant one of the victims, a 15 year old female, told
Dodge about the incident. She said that she knew the defendant and, when
she saw him in the parking lot, went over to speak with him. According
to the affidavit, Bohannon told her to go and get her friend. He then
said they both had to get in the car and if they didn't somebody would
get shot. He inserted a magazine into the gun while saying this. The
teenager ran over to her friends. Together, they ran into the restaraunt.
Another two teenagers, both male, walked over to the vehicle shortly
after the three girls ran inside. Again, according to the affidavit,
Bohannon told them, "get in the f----g car," states the affidavit. He
pulled back on the slide, as if to load the weapon, while saying this.
One of the teenagers, who told police he did not see the weapon at that
time, got into the car. The other walked away, afraid that if he got in
the car, he or someone else would be killed.
The teenager who got into the car told Dodge that Bohannon then showed
him the gun and said, "Someone wants to get capped tonight, and we're
going to do it. According to the affidavit, Lockwood repeated the
sentence and said he also had a weapon in the trunk of the car. When the
vehicle began moving, the teenager jumped out of the vehicle, stating he
didn't want anything to do with shooting people.
Dodge interviewed Bohannon 3 a.m., when the defendant admitted to the
above.
Lamoille County State's Attorney Joel Page said Bohannon was charged
with attempted unlawful restraint in the second degree as he didn't
expose anyone to serious danger. "The gun appears to have been
unloaded," said Page. The second degree charge is still a serious
felony, he said.
"It's definitely a scary situation and hard to know what motivated Mr.
Bohannon to do this," said Page. "Whether he was joking around or was
serious is hard to determine from these facts."
If found guilty, he could face up to 12 years and/or a $52,000 fine.