Staff Report

Manuel Apolinar Tlahuetl

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was arrested after allegedly using a gun to threaten a woman.

Manuel Apolinar Tlahuetl, 21, 902 E. Market St., Warsaw, is charged with intimidation with a deadly weapon and obliterating identification marks on a handgun, both level 5 felonies; and pointing a firearm, a level 6 felony.

On Oct. 22, a Warsaw Police officer responded to a report of a firearm being pointed at someone.

A woman told the officer that while she was picking up her child from a residence, Tlahuetl pointed a firearm at her.

According to court documents, the woman said that while she was still in her vehicle, Tlahuetl removed what she believed to be a Glock Model 19 from his pants pocket. He allegedly pointed the firearm at her, actioned the slide and said, “You better watch out.”

Tlahuetl put the firearm back in his pocket when one of Tlahuetl’s relatives brought the child out to the woman’s vehicle.

Tlahuetl admitted to officers that he argued with the woman, but denied having a firearm. He told officers he had a rolling pin in his pocket and held it in a way to make the woman believe he had a gun. Tlahuetl also denied owning a firearm at all, saying that the relative he resided with would not allow him to bring one into the home.

Tlahuetl’s relative told officers that the woman in the vehicle was crying when she brought the child to the vehicle. The relative said the woman told her that Tlahuetl tried to scare her. When she was asked by officers for consent to search the residence for a firearm, the relative denied consent.

That same day, a search warrant for the home Tlahuetl resided in was applied for and granted. While searching the home, officers found a firearm in a pair of pants in Tlahuetl’s bedroom. The serial number for the firearm was scratched off, not allowing further investigation into the ownership of the firearm. The firearm was also loaded with a round in the chamber. Identifying documents belonging to Tlahuetl were also found in the bedroom.

A rolling pin was not found in the residence while executing the search warrant, and Tlahuetl’s relative said she doesn’t own a rolling pin.

Tlahuetl has already been arrested and released on a $10,250 surety and cash bond. He has an initial hearing at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 29.