On Thursday, August 29 at 12:37 pm, Martinez Police Department officers responded to a call of a man with a shotgun in the 1000 block of Arnold Dr. A passing motorist saw an unknown adult male subject pointing a short barreled shotgun at an unknown adult female, according to police.
Arriving officers contacted the woman near the parking lot of The Home Depot at 1037 Arnold Drive. The male subject fled from officers on a bicycle, rolling into The Home Depot while carrying a dark duffle bag.
Several officers made entry into the store and began to evacuate customers, police said, with the suspect attempting to flee out the front door during the evacuation process. Police said a concerned citizen and a Home Depot employee alerted them to the subject and he was placed into custody after a brief struggle with help from the concerned citizens.
During the struggle, the suspect allegedly assaulted a Home Depot employee by throwing his bicycle at him, according to police. The employee was not injured. Officers later conducted a search of the store and located a duffle bag containing a loaded short barrel shotgun and other items, including bolt cutters and binoculars.
The suspect was identified as James Lee Dryden, 33, of Martinez. He was arrested and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility (MDF) for 22215 PC (Possess Short Barrel Shotgun), 245(a)(1) PC (Assault w/Deadly Weapon), 25850 PC (Carry Loaded Firearm in Public) and a probation violation. He is being held on a $100,000 bail.
The female was uncooperative and provided a conflicting statement of the events. She was subsequently released.
There were no injuries reported during this incident, police said.
So many guns.
I take it mr Dryden isn’t a sport hunter waiting for grouse season???
Not unless he’s going after sawed-off grouse!
Cheney’s bird of choice. Get up out of your 4×4, walk 10 feet and fire! Back to your 4×4 to ride to the next caged covey waiting release for the great hunter. God I love the simpler times.
I thought Cheneys bird of choice was attorneys dumb enough to go hunting with him.
Where were all the good guys with guns (the cowboys) to keep us safe? I guess the NRA has failed California.
Ugh genius reply David. Because california encourages cw permits and really advocates open carry. Troll elsewhere please.
Didn’t you hear? The NRA doesn’t care about guns anyway. They’ve been investing in Wayne LaPierre suits.
– and his house.
Its a pretty safe bet that a 30 something getting around town on a bike while carrying a bag with a cut down shotgun and bolt cutters isn’t up to much good.
He’s lucky he didn’t pull that thing and threw his bike at them instead. Po lice dont like it when you go pulling shotguns out on them.
We were walking in as everyone was running out!
Shotgun Special – all prices half off!
All you guys can think it’s funny and crack jokes about a 30 something year old riding around on a bike with a loaded gun and so on. It just shows how mature you are and how boring your life must be that you have nothing else better to do . Let me tell you something, that 30 something year old is my son and my biggest relief is that nobody was hurt because a situation like that has an extremely high chance of ending not just with people getting hurt but dying as well. Nothing and I do mean NOTHING about this is funny at all. My son at 30 something had been his own boss for about 3 years then one day had his job which he performed alone taken from him by a company who had newer equipment and a crew because they could do it faster even though the company charged alot more then my son did. . He could not get unemployment and the only job he could find at the time was part time at an ice cream shop to make a long story short he ended up homeless and yes went from driving a new Camaro at one point to riding a bike. The female was his girlfriend who he found out had been cheating and she had just got my son in a mess of things with the young man she cheated with she actually played them both for fools and so any way my son was a mess in a really dark place he was hating even living any more his girlfriend was trying to sneak off again and my son just lost it . What he did was very dangerous and very stupid he knows that . He told me that this is a wake up call and he plans on making something positivr come out of the 7 to 10 years he may have to serve for his actions.
None of this was a joke and I really hope it never happens to any of you but if it does I can bet you wont find it funny.