A Binghamton man police say was despondent and threatening suicide was sent to jail after being arraigned in city court Monday afternoon after police charged him with illegally having a .30 caliber semi-automatic rifle.
Jobiya P. Fortner, 19, of 256 ½ Main St., second floor, was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, and menacing, a misdemeanor, said Binghamton Detective Captain John Butler. Having the rifle was illegal for Fortner because of previous felony convictions.
Fortner was arrested after a patrolman driving by spotted him waving the gun at 4:30 a.m. Monday on Loraine Avenue, Butler said.
Fortner pointed the loaded weapon at police and then ran Butler said. Patrolman Steve Ward used his police dog, Brando, who was deployed and cornered Fortner in the schoolyard. Fortner pulled the trigger of the rifle while aiming it at K-9 Brando, but the gun misfired. Brando disarmed Fortner who was eventually arrested in the schoolyard of Woodrow Wilson School, 287 Prospect St., Binghamton. School was not in session at the time of the incident. Fortner was sent to Broome County Jail without bail.