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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man who claimed he was tired of being "doorbell ditched" was arrested Sunday and accused of firing a realistic looking gun at a group of teenagers.
Michael Roberts, 70, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of six counts of aggravated assault and criminal mischief.
Six teens reported to police on Sunday that as they were getting into their car, Roberts walked outside his home from across the street "and began firing what they believed to be a firearm at them," a police booking affidavit states.
A responding officer observed "two significant dents" on the passenger side rear door of the car.
"Due to the nature of the call and the unknown of the type of weapon that was used," Utah County sheriff's deputies went to Roberts' home and took him into custody at gunpoint, the affidavit states.
Roberts then explained to deputies that for weeks, "juveniles have been coming to his house on the weekends and doorbell ditching his residence. When asked if the teenagers had come to his house tonight, he stated that they had not," according to the arrest report.
But when Roberts saw a car parked across the street that he said matched one he had seen during one of the previous doorbell-ditching incidents, he "stated that he had come out onto his porch and fired a paintball like gun across the street but stated that he did not aim it at the kids. The gun that he stated he fired looked like a handgun.
"Looking at the dents on the vehicle as well as the size of the plastic rounds that are fired from the gun it was obvious to me that the dents were made by the plastic rounds fired from the porch," the arresting deputy wrote.
