A 33-year-old man was booked on several charges Thursday afternoon after he allegedly pointed a shotgun at a woman outside a shopping center, and then evaded police by riding a bike into a nearby home improvement store as he allegedly carried the firearm, police said.
James Lee Dryden of Martinez was arrested inside the Home Depot store in the 1000 block of Arnold Drive after being subdued by police officers, a Home Depot employee and a store shopper, officers said.
Police were called about 12:37 p.m. Thursday by a passing motorist who told police of a someone who said they saw a man pointing a short-barreled shotgun at a woman near the Home Depot store.
Officers talked to the woman, while the man fled on a bicycle through the front doors of the Home Depot, carrying a dark-colored duffel bag. Police had started evacuating store customers when the suspect tried to pedal out the front door, but was tackled by officers, a Home Depot employee and another "concerned citizen," police said. The suspect, later identified as Dryden, threw his bicycle at a Home Depot worker, police said, but that worker wasn't injured.
Police then arrested Dryden, and soon found the duffel bag with the loaded shotgun inside.
Dryden was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on suspicion of possession of a short-barrel shotgun, suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, suspicion of carrying a loaded firearm in public a probation violation.
