A rural Worthington man was arrested last Thursday night after he allegedly threatened a neighbor then shot toward the neighbor’s house. He said he was target shooting in another direction but there were two officers at the neighbor’s house when he was shooting and they heard the bullets flying through nearby trees.

Joshua Thaddeous Sweet, 49, of rural Worthington, was arrested by Deputy Zachary Goad of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department last Thursday night, August 20.

Deputy Goad was dispatched to a residence on North Canyon Lake Lane, Worthington, after a man called the sheriff’s department and reported a neighbor, later identified as Joshua Sweet, had threatened to shoot him. Deputy Marshal Ryan Montgomery of the Worthington Police Department also responded.

When the two arrived, they learned the man and Sweet have had issues for a while. The man said Sweet is always wanting to fight him. He said that evening, Sweet pulled into his driveway and said he had his gun pointed right between the man’s eyes and he was going to shoot him in a minute. The officers also spoke to a woman who was at the residence. She said she was close enough to hear the noise but was not able to make out what was being said.

Deputy Goad reported that he and Officer Montgomery then headed to their vehicles to go to Sweet’s residence but before they got out of the driveway, they heard five or six shots coming from the direction of Sweet’s residence. Both Officer Montgomery and the man who lived there said they heard the bullets traveling through the trees near the patrol vehicles and the man’s house.

After that, the two officers waited for additional officers to arrive in the area before approaching Sweet’s residence. When they did arrive at Sweet’s, he exited his house and was detained without incident.

Sweet alleged that every time he drives past the man’s house, he yells at them and calls him names. He said he had gotten out of his vehicle and confronted the man but the man spit on him.

When Sweet was asked what he was shooting, he said he was shooting a target and cans behind his residence in the opposite direction of the man’s house. Deputy Goad then informed him that the two officers were at the man’s house when the shooting occurred.

After Deputy Camron Frye transported Sweet to the Greene County Jail, Deputy Goad talked to another neighbor who lives in between Sweet and the man. This neighbor said there have been ongoing issues and Sweet had accused the man of shooting holes in his boat at some earlier time. He also said he talked to Sweet that night and Sweet told him when he drove past the man’s house, the man was yelling at him and calling him names. The neighbor said Sweet told him he then fired at the man’s house but he wasn’t trying to kill him, just wanted to scare him. He also said Sweet told him if he sees cops, they would probably be looking for him (Sweet). The neighbor said he hadn’t heard that earlier shot, but about 15 minutes after he talked to Sweet, he did hear shots and it sounded like Sweet was standing in the road in front of Sweet’s residence when he was shooting.

Sweet was booked in around 11:18 p.m. His bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. Sweet has since posted bond and been released.

Sweet is facing a preliminary charge of intimidation where the threat is to commit a forcible felony, a Level 6 felony.