A man considered to be a serious violent felon was arrested after he was found to be in possession of firearms. Then when the handcuffs were removed when he was booked into the Greene County Jail, he allegedly threatened to choke the deputy who had arrested him.

James Francis Kingsley III, 49, Bloomfield, was arrested by Deputy Caleb Sipes of the Greene County Sheriff's Department on Friday, February 24.

After the Greene County Sheriff's Department got a request to do a welfare check on Kingsley, Deputy Sipes and Deputy James Carpenter were dispatched at 2:06 PM last Friday to a residence on South Washington Street in Bloomfield.

When they arrived and Deputy Sipes knocked on the door, he could see a single-shot shotgun in plain view leaning on a door inside the residence. Then when Deputy Carpenter informed dispatch about the firearm, Detective Sergeant Shawn Cullison informed him that Kingsley was considered a serious violent felon as a result of a conviction in 1994 of dealing cocaine.

Deputy Terry Wade also responded to the scene and started talking with neighbors who allegedly said they saw Kingsley on the roof of his residence with a shotgun.

After a brief interview when Kingsley came to the door and exited the residence, Kingsley was handcuffed and told he was being detained because he was a serious violent felon in possession of a firearm. Kingsley allegedly said he does not own a shotgun and the shotgun belonged to his son. He also said his son lives in Texas and has since basketball season.

Deputy Sergeant Jordan Allor also responded to the scene and he informed Kingsley the officers were going to apply for a search warrant to search his home. Kingsley allegedly responded by telling them to go ahead and look around. After Kingsley was placed in a patrol vehicle, Deputy Wade stayed outside with him and said Kingsley told him he did have an additional shotgun inside the home.

Deputy Sipes reported that during the search they found a Remington Sportsman-58 16-gauge shotgun loaded with two shotgun shells in the magazine tube and one in the chamber, a New England Arms .410-gauge shotgun, shotgun shells for a 16-gauge shotgun, a backpack with two zip style bags containing a green plant material that later field tested positive as marijuana and another white bag containing a large sum of cash. A “roach” was found in Kingsley's possession.

During an interview after Kingsley was transported to the Greene County Sheriff's Department, Kingsley allegedly said he would not have had the firearm out in the open if he was aware of being a serious violent felon. He allegedly admitted he knew the firearms were inside the house. Kingsley allegedly explained that he believed former President Trump had changed the law and serious violent felons could possess shotguns. He said the .410 is his son's but the 16-gauge was his he said his son did not live there but left the shotgun there for safekeeping. He said the backpack was his but he was not aware of the marijuana and believed someone had placed it there.

Kingsley was booked into the Greene County Jail around 5:57 PM but during the booking process, a jailer removed and the handcuffs from Kingsley and once they were removed, Kingsley allegedly said, “Now I can choke Sipes.”  Deputy Sipes told Kingsley he was now being charged for intimidation on a law enforcement officer and Kingsley said he was not being serious.

Bond was set at $20,000 surety with 10% cash allowed. He has since posted $2000 and been released from jail.

Kingsley is scheduled to appear in Greene Circuit Court on March 13 for his initial hearing on charges of:

• Unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a Level 4 felony,

• Intimidation involving a threat to commit a forcible felony, a Level 6 felony, and

• Possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor.