A 58-year-old Odessa man who authorities said failed to show up for his arraignment in an aggravated assault case last month was arrested Saturday.
According to an Odessa Police Department report, a 41-year-old man called 911 around 7 p.m. March 27 to report a man with a gun outside the United Supermarket at University Boulevard and West County Road.
The man told officers he had just gotten out of his car when a man driving a black sedan pulled up and stopped in front of his car, where his family still sat. According to the report, the man said the driver of the car yelled at him to stop following him or he’d “put a bullet in his head.”
The other man then pulled out a hunting-style rifle with a scope and pointed it at him before driving away, the report said.
Officers corroborated the man’s account with video surveillance and they traced the license plate of the car to William Wade Kirby, according to the report.
According to the police report, Kirby admitted in a phone conversation with investigators that he’d pointed his .22 caliber pellet gun at the other man and said he’d do it again if he ever caught the man following him again.
Kirby was indicted on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on May 16, but online Ector County court records show a warrant for his arrest was issued on June 3 when he failed to appear at his May 31 arraignment.
Court records also indicate Kirby’s initial bond of $30,000 has been raised to $60,000. He remained in the Ector County jail as of Tuesday afternoon.
