http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788993/19246124.html

ATF agent threatened us, teens tell police By TOM SUK Register Staff Writer 09/18/2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indianola, Ia. - The head of the Iowa office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is being investigated on allegations that he drunkenly threatened a group of nine teenage pranksters Monday night with a loaded gun.

Jon Carl Petersen, 41, of Indianola was taken to the Warren County Jail on a charge of public intoxication, a misdemeanor. He was released without bond Tuesday morning on his promise to appear in court and was at work later in the day.

A woman who answered the phone at the Des Moines ATF office declined to forward a reporter's call to Petersen. She referred questions to his supervisor in Kansas City, Mo. The supervisor, Paul Vido, said Petersen will be allowed to carry a weapon while local and federal authorities investigate the altercation.

"These are allegations," he said. "No charges have been filed regarding a weapons violation."

A woman who answered the door at Petersen's home Tuesday night said he would not be available for comment.

Indianola police Chief Steve Bonnett said the incident began when a group of nine teenagers drove past Petersen's house, throwing toilet paper onto trees and homes in the neighborhood as part of a homecoming week prank. Petersen was sitting outside and saw the youths. He got into his Jeep and, after three blocks, caught up with the teens, police said.

About a block away, the teenagers heard squealing tires, Lucas Viers, a 15-year-old who was in a pickup truck, said Tuesday. A vehicle with red lights and sirens pulled up behind them.

"We were laughing about it because we were thinking he was blowing it all out of proportion until he whipped out that gun. He pulled that gun out of nowhere, and we were pretty scared," Viers said.

"At one point, he actually touched the gun to my friend Ryan's back," Viers said. "I was sitting in the back of the truck near the tailgate, and when he wasn't pointing the gun at the driver and passenger in front, he was aiming it at us. I think if he fired, he would have hit one of the three of us sitting in the back by the tailgate."

Viers' father, Alan, said: "I was really upset about it, but the cops are handling it, and I think they will handle it right. He had no business doing it. I would think he would have had better sense than that."

Reports showed that police received several calls about a man threatening a group of teenagers with a gun near Emerson Elementary School about 10:40 p.m. One of the callers reported "that a male subject was pointing a gun at another subject's head," according to police reports.

When Officer Kurt Kness arrived, he saw Petersen standing next to a dark-blue Jeep behind a pickup truck with a group of juveniles standing in the street and along the side of the road. Several yelled that the man had a gun, Kness said.

Kness said he approached Petersen - who wore a white T-shirt, jean shorts and white socks but no shoes - and the agent leaned back inside the driver's-side window of the Jeep. Kness said he ordered Petersen to move away from the vehicle, which he did. The officer handcuffed Petersen and later found the loaded revolver on the driver's seat of the Jeep.

The vehicle is government-owned and equipped with a siren and red emergency lights, police said.

About a dozen officers, nearly the entire contingent of the Indianola Police Department and Warren County Sheriff's Department on duty Monday night, went to the scene.

According to the police report, Ryan Kalitzki, 16, of Indianola was the driver of the pickup. Kalitzki told police that Petersen turned on his Jeep's emergency lights to stop the truck. Petersen then ordered Kalitzki and a friend out of the truck at gunpoint and aimed the gun at the seven teens in the back of the truck, the police report said.

"Mr. Petersen acknowledged that he had stopped the vehicle and that he was armed with the handgun," Kness wrote in his report. "While talking to Mr. Petersen, it became clear that he was intoxicated. His eyes were watery, and his speech was confused and rambling."

Kness said Petersen acknowledged he had been drinking wine. Field sobriety tests showed he had a blood alcohol content of .22, more than twice the legal limit for driving. Police said Petersen refused to take a Breathalyzer test at the jail.

The revolver confiscated from Petersen's Jeep remained in police custody. Bonnett said Indianola police will turn the results of their investigation over to Warren County Attorney Kevin Parker. Parker said he would not comment on whether more charges will be filed until he receives a full report from police. The investigation may take several days, authorities said.

Vido, assistant special agent in charge of the Kansas City Field Division, is responsible for ATF operations in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The agency enforces the nation's tax, weapons and firearms laws and investigates arson and explosives cases.

The bureau wants "a thorough review of the allegations," Vido said, and will refer the matter to the agency's Internal Affairs Investigation Unit. "We take these allegations very seriously," he said.Petersen

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002

Answers

nine plus eye witnesses. what's to investigate?

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002

Does he smoke too? LOL!

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002

I love the fact that he is still able to carry a gun in his job. Yes he probably smokes too :0

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002

After this hit the national news wires, the ATF put him on paid leave pending the investigation........

http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788993/19256385.html

Iowa ATF case draws attention By TOM SUK Register Staff Writer 09/19/2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Indianola, Ia. - Agents from the national headquarters of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrived in Indianola on Wednesday to investigate allegations that the head of the federal agency's Iowa office threatened a group of high school pranksters with a loaded gun.

Jon C. Petersen, 41, of Indianola, supervisor of Des Moines' ATF office, has been placed on paid leave during the investigation, his supervisor, Paul Vido, said Wednesday.

Vido said agents with the federal bureau's Internal Affairs Unit based in Washington, D.C., will conduct a parallel investigation into the incident with the Indianola Police Department.

Vido, the assistant special agent in charge of the Kansas City Field Division, is responsible for ATF operations in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

Police said Petersen chased a pickup truck full of teenagers who had cruised by his Indianola home about 10:30 p.m. Monday. The teens, who had been throwing toilet paper into trees in the area as a prank leading up to Indianola High School's homecoming celebration, said Petersen ordered them out of their vehicle at gunpoint.

Reports say police received several calls about a man threatening a group of teens with a gun near Emerson Elementary School. Officers arrested Petersen on a misdemeanor charge of public intoxication. A field sobriety test showed Petersen had a blood-alcohol level that was twice the legal limit to drive at the time of his arrest.

Police said they confiscated a loaded revolver that they found on the driver's seat of the government-owned Jeep that Petersen drove, which was equipped with emergency lights and a siren.

A woman at Petersen's home Tuesday said he would not be available for comment.

Indianola Police Chief Steve Bonnett said his officers will probably finish interviewing the nine teenagers and numerous witnesses in the case by Friday. He said police also are investigating a complaint that Petersen stopped another vehicle Monday before the incident that led to his arrest.

When the police investigation is completed, the results will be turned over to Warren County Attorney Kevin Parker, who will determine whether additional charges should be filed against Petersen.

Parker on Wednesday refused to release copies of the 911 calls received about Monday's incident.

"I don't want to release anything until the investigation is complete," Parker said.

-- Anonymous, September 19, 2002