CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man has been accused of sitting in a vehicle outside his ex-wife’s house with a handgun.
Tyler D. Thompson, 24, has been charged by Officer Elliott Neeper of the Lawrence Township police with felony firearms not to be carried without a license and misdemeanor possession of firearm prohibited.
He’s also been charged with misdemeanor stalking, harassment and disorderly conduct, plus one summary. His bail is set at $50,000 monetary.
Thompson waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court at the Clearfield County Jail.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, a call was received April 17 from an employee of a local assisted living facility. She said a male, identified as Thompson, was parked in the lot waiting for her co-worker to arrive at work.
She said Thompson was her co-worker’s ex-husband, and she (her co-worker) had previously expressed concerns to others about him. He had allegedly sent her pictures of a handgun and tried to have unwanted contact.
She said her co-worker would have normally arrived by then but was not scheduled to work, and that Thompson wasn’t wanted on the facility’s property. A second employee also saw Thompson and told the first employee to contact police and the victim.
Upon arrival, officers were unable to locate Thompson in the parking lot but found out he’d left and gone to a residence on Turnpike Avenue Extension. The victim had called for help because Thompson was outside her house and she was fearful.
Officers located Thompson seated in his vehicle parked in the victim’s driveway. He was removed from his vehicle at gunpoint and asked if he had any weapons. He told the officers there was a gun on the right side of the waistband of his sweatpants.
The weapon was a Kimber .380 that was loaded and not in a holster. He was subsequently taken into custody and put in a patrol unit, where he was read his Miranda Rights and agreed to speak with officers.
During an interview, Thompson claimed he was there to drop off his ex-wife’s sunglasses. He also said she’d text-messaged him and asked for him to bring her a coffee.
However, when asked, he reportedly admitted that they weren’t any longer together, that he’d also gone to her place of employment earlier in the day and she’d told him to have no further contact with her.
Police asked Thompson why he had a gun and he reportedly replied to “shoot someone” if they gave him problems and to protect himself.
When contact was made with the victim, she was visibly upset over the situation. She said she was first contacted by her employer when Thompson was there, and told police there had been previous problems.
Then, she said she looked outside and observed Thompson in his vehicle parked in her driveway for approximately 30 minutes. She called 911.
She said previously, Thompson had left notes on the door handle of her car and another one inside it. She said she ignored his notes but did respond when he sent pictures of her property, which she requested to have returned.
Officers asked the victim if she was fearful of Thompson, she said yes and began to cry. She was then provided information about how to obtain a Protection from Abuse order.
Thompson was subsequently transported to the police station and officers reviewed his conceal carry permit information. It was learned the permit had been revoked April 8 due to an “involuntary commitment” on April 1, according to the affidavit.