Man with gun located in store parking lot
By Kathy McCarty
PRESQUE ISLE — A Westfield man was charged with possessing a stolen firearm after an assistant manager at Lowe’s reported a suspicious person in the parking lot.
The Presque Isle Police Department received a call around 10:15 p.m. on May 8 from the Maysville Street store official advising there was a car that had been parked in their customer parking lot since around 8 p.m. The caller indicated the car was running and the lights were on. At around 10 p.m., the boyfriend of a store employee reportedly knocked on the window to see if the man was ok — the action waking the motorist, who was the sole occupant of a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria. The boyfriend told the assistant manager the man appeared to have a shotgun or rifle on his lap.
Sgt. Mark Barnes of the PIPD responded to investigate. Upon arrival, Barnes located the vehicle and made contact with the driver, identified as Don W. Hanson Jr., 31, of Westfield, who was asleep at the time with the shotgun near his lap. Barnes eventually assisted Hanson out of the car. Further investigation by officers found a loaded handgun in the vehicle, as well as Vicodin and a laptop computer.
Barnes checked police records and determined the handgun had been reported stolen in Caribou. None of the other items had been reported stolen. Hanson was subsequently arrested and brought back to the police department for processing.
Police did not indicate why Hanson was in the parking lot or what he intended to do with the guns.
Barnes was assisted by PIPD Officer Peter Johnson.
