PORTAGE | What apparently started as an argument over the price of a box spring ended up in the arrest of an employee for threatening to shoot a customer Friday afternoon.
Markus Burns Jr., 24, of Wheatfield, was charged with intimidation, having a pistol with no permit and false informing.
According to Portage police, a man and woman from Hobart and the man's mother, a Hammond woman, went to Sears Hardware, 6169 U.S. 6, to purchase a box spring Friday afternoon. The family approached Burns about a price, and Burns turned to his manager for assistance.
The family and manager engaged in an argument and Burns also began arguing with the man, eventually allegedly telling the man, "Let's go outside and I'll shoot you in your (expletive deleted) face," according to the report.
The family called police about the threats.
When police arrived Burns was questioned about having a gun. Burns allegedly told police he owned a gun, but it was at home. Police searched Burns' vehicle, with his permission, in the retailer's parking lot and found a different style gun wrapped in a sweatshirt on the passenger-side front seat.
Burns allegedly denied knowledge of the gun, then told police it belonged to his girlfriend. Police interviewed Burns' girlfriend, who worked at a nearby retailer. She told police it was not her gun.
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