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MILLCREEK — A man apparently upset that his suitcase was placed in a dumpster now faces several criminal charges accusing him of shooting at the person who threw his luggage away.
John Henry Hatcher, 38, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with being a restricted person in possession of a gun, a second-degree felony; shooting in the direction of a person, a third-degree felony; and assault, a class B misdemeanor.
A maintenance worker at the Holladay Hills Apartments, 3690 S. Highland Drive, was cleaning up trash around the complex Thursday and found "an abandoned suitcase near a dumpster." The employee asked his manager what he should do with the suitcase and he was told to throw it away, according to charging documents.
The worker was later confronted by Hatcher and he explained to him that "he had thrown the suitcase out because he thought it was abandoned."
Hatcher responded by pulling out a gun, firing a round into the dumpster and punching the employee in the face while stating, "You know who I am," according to the charges. "Hatcher then raised the gun up and shot another round in (the worker's) direction."
No injuries were reported from the shooting.
Unified police were called and obtained a search warrant for the apartment that Hatcher was visiting. Inside, they found the suitcase that contained a handgun, the charges state.
"Hatcher admitted he got into a confrontation with (the worker) because Hatcher believed (the worker) stole his suitcase from his unsecured vehicle. Hatcher admitted when he found the suitcase in the dumpster, he punched (the worker) in the jaw," the charging documents state. "Hatcher admitted he thought (the worker) was stealing his items so he shot a round into the dumpster to scare (him) off."
