When a man thought his neighbors were killing his cats, he allegedly went to their residence and threatened them with a shotgun then tried to convince a detective that he did not take a shotgun to their house. His story fell apart when the detective showed him a broken piece of the shotgun that had been left at the neighbor’s house.

Jeffery Paul Wood, 54, Linton, was arrested by Detective Logan Hobbs of the Linton Police Department last Tuesday, October 13.

Around 5:30 PM last Tuesday, Detective Hobbs was dispatched to a residence on 3rd St NW in Linton about threats that had been made to a resident. When he arrived on the scene, he talked to two residents who said they had been threatened by Jeffery Wood.

One of the residents said at the request of the landlord, a city ordinance officer had been placing traps around the residence to capture stray cats. The resident said Wood came to the residence and the other resident said when she heard Wood at the door, she also came to the door and that Wood pointed what she believed was a shotgun at her and told them it was loaded and he was not afraid to use it. She said Wood told them you mess with his cats, you mess with him. Wood allegedly then left the front door area, walked to the side of the house and broke out a window. The other resident confirmed this story.

When Detective Hobbs went to Wood’s house, he could hear Wood shouting inside the house before he knocked on the door and Wood came out to talk to the officer. Wood allegedly said he believed the residents at the neighboring house had been killing his cats but he said he did not take a shotgun to their house. He said he took a stick. He allegedly admitted he broke a window at the residence but he did not mean to break it. He also said he did not make any threats.

When asked if he had any weapons, Wood said he is a felon and did not own any weapons but when asked if there were weapons in the house he said there's all kinds of weapons in there including firearms, specifically shotguns.

Wood allegedly admitted that he went over to the neighbor’s house because he believed the neighbor had been killing his cats. When the officer explained that an ordinance officer had been capturing cats, Wood said he was aware of that.

After talking with Wood, Detective Hobbs returned to look at the broken window on the residence. That is when a witness pointed to a wood object on the ground in front of the porch and said, “Here's part of his shotgun.” All of the people at the residence said they did not own any firearms and the wood piece fell off Wood’s shotgun while he was there. Detective Hobbs recognized the piece of wood to be the front grip from a firearm.

At that point Detective Hobbs went back to talk to Wood at his house. When he showed him the wood grip and asked what it was, Wood allegedly said, “Well that's a bad deal there,” and he stood up and put his hands behind his back.

Wood was then transported to the sheriff's department where he was booked into the Greene County Jail at 6:21 PM with bond set at $4500 surety with 10% cash allowed.

After Wood was booked in, Detective Hobbs returned to Wood’s house where he talked to a woman and asked her if she could show him the broken firearm that Wood had taken to the neighbor's residence. Detective Hobbs reported that she went inside and returned with a shotgun barrel and stock that appeared to have broken apart. There was no front grip and the woodstock appeared to match the front grip that had been seized as evidence from the neighbor’s yard. The woman said the shotgun had not been loaded when Wood took it to the neighbor’s residence.

Wood has since been released from jail after posting $450 bond. A criminal case was filed against him in Greene Circuit Court yesterday, Monday, October 17. Wood is scheduled to appear in court for his initial hearing on October 24 when he will be formally charged with:

• Intimidation: Defendant draws or uses a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony,

• Pointing a firearm at another person, firearm unloaded, a Class A misdemeanor,

• Criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor,

• Intimidation: Defendant draws or uses a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony, and

• Pointing a firearm at another person, firearm unloaded, a Class A misdemeanor.