Matt Peterson, Austin Daily Herald, Minn. –
An Austin man who allegedly pointed a loaded shotgun at his chin while standing off with police pleaded not guilty Thursday in Mower County Court.
Joshua Mark Hatleli, 26, pleaded not guilty to felony charges of terroristic threats and fleeing police in a vehicle, two gross misdemeanor charges for domestic assault and another gross misdemeanor for possession of firearms by user of a controlled substance.
Police received a call from the alleged domestic assault victims, who said Hatleli had damaged a door, returned to the home in the southwest part of Austin and made threatening remarks while he had a shotgun, according to the court complaint. One victim reportedly saw Hatleli remove the gun from its case and leave in his car. According to the complaint, Hatleli told one of the victim’s over the phone: “This is not the end of it. I will … get every single one of you and I will be back.”
Hatleli also allegedly said he was going to kill a victim’s husband: “He is done. I’m coming for him, too, with six rounds.”
The victims told police that Hatleli was going to Marcusen Park and said he would never be seen by any of them again. Police later found Hatleli driving and followed him to Marcusen Park with their emergency lights on.
According to the complaint, Hatleli sat in the front seat of his car with a shotgun, chambered a shell and pointed the gun to his chin. After 12-minutes of negotiating, officers were able to convince Hatleli to surrender. The shotgun was loaded with six rifled slugs — one in the chamber. Hatleli admitted to police he was stressed out and smoked cocaine the previous night, according to the complaint.
Hatleli’s pretrial is set for Aug. 17. He is held in the Mower County jail on $50,000.
