An East Chicago man is accused of pointing a gun at a woman’s face in the middle of a park following Calumet Day festivities.
Arnoldo Clifford Allen is charged with intimidation, a Level 5 felony; criminal recklessness, pointing a firearm, and resisting law enforcement — all Level 6 felonies; and misdemeanor resisting law enforcement.
Around 7:20 p.m. on July 27, East Chicago Police responded to a criminal recklessness call in the 4800 block of Carey Street, according to the probable cause affidavit. The woman at the residence said Allen had approached her at Martin Luther King Jr. Park earlier in the evening, stating that he didn’t like a person she was friends with. She said Allen pulled out a black, semiautomatic handgun with an extended magazine and pointed it at her face, court records state.
She told police that she moved away from the gun when Allen shot her. He missed hitting her body by inches, but her backpack had a bullet hole in it, records state. She said Allen then ran off.
Police had encountered Allen, two other men, and a juvenile smoking marijuana just after the shooting incident, the affidavit states. When police told them not to move, they fled the scene in different directions. The juvenile tossed a black handgun while fleeing and police eventually apprehended him, finding marijuana and other pills on him, court records state.
Allen was spotted with a black handgun while fleeing. It was recovered and identified as a black Glock .45-caliber handgun, records state. Police used a stun gun to arrest Allen, but he continued to resist and an officer struck him in the face to get him to comply.
In a police interview, Allen said he carries the gun with him because he has a “target on his back” and needs “protection,” the affidavit states. He said he had previous altercations with the woman, and he told her to leave the park as he didn’t want to be around her. He claimed that she stood up from a bench and grabbed him by his collar, causing the handgun to accidentally go off, court records state.
The woman told police in a subsequent interview that she had gone to the park after attending the city’s Calumet Day festivities. When Allen approached her, she shoved the gun and Allen away when he put it in her face, having a brief physical altercation in the process, records state.