A man faces firearm and related charges for allegedly pointing a gun at a woman’s head following an argument at a restaurant in Meriden on Wednesday.
Police began investigating when a 24-year-old woman went to the police station and said 28-year-old Michael Hunter had stolen her cell phone after an incident in a restaurant on Miller Street, according to Sgt. Michael Boothroyd of the Meriden Police Department.
Boothroyd said the woman told police she was seated with Hunter at the restaurant when he got up to use a restroom, at which point she got on the phone with her ex-boyfriend. When Hunter returned, the woman told police, he allegedly said he knew she was speaking to the former boyfriend despite her insistence that she was talking to her mother, according to Boothroyd.
The woman said the pair argued before Hunter allegedly grabbed her cell phone after they left the restaurant and refused to give it back, Boothroyd said. As they were walking on Pratt Street, she said Hunter allegedly put something against her head that witnesses reported looked like it was a firearm, according to Boothroyd.
Boothroyd said investigators found that Meriden police had two warrants out for Hunter’s arrest. He also had two warrants out for his arrest out of New Haven, according to Boothroyd.
Hunter was later found in the area of West Main Street and Colony Street. He was taken into custody and allegedly found with a Glock handgun, which he allegedly told police he had found on the ground, Boothroyd said.
Boothroyd said Hunter also had a folding pocketknife and the woman’s cellphone as well as an iPad and multiple other cellphones. He allegedly told police he tried to return the phone, but the woman was not home at the time.
According to Boothroyd, the woman later found that someone had gone into her bedroom through a window. She reported that her iPad and iPhone Pro Max were missing and said the location on the devices showed that they were at the police department. Boothroyd said police confirmed Hunter had the electronics when he was arrested.
Hunter was charged with first-degree threatening, third-degree robbery, second-degree breach of peace, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment and two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon. The warrants out for his arrest charged him with violation of probation and second-degree failure to appear.
Hunter was held on bonds totaling $160,000.