A man who authorities say pointed a gun at a person’s head while making threats was arrested and later found to be in possession of two loaded firearms including an AK-47 rifle, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.
Timothy Wayne Johnson, 57, was arrested after sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene in the 600 block of Roskilde Road, authorities said.
However, when they first arrived, Johnson had already fled the scene.
Law enforcement officials had also been told that Johnson was intoxicated and posted a statement on social media that read “I’ll see you in the afterlife,” which the Sheriff’s Office described as suicidal in a news release.
Working with officers from California Highway Patrol, deputies were able to find Johnson at a Mobil gas station located along the 246 Freeway in Buellton, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Since they believed he was armed with a gun and because of the threats allegedly made, sheriff’s deputies said, they arrested Johnson at gunpoint. Authorities said he initially refused to comply with verbal demands being made by deputies but was eventually taken into custody safely.
Later, they discovered Johnson had two loaded firearms inside his vehicle — a .22 caliber rifle and the AK-47 rifle, deputies said. Once Johnson was served with a search warrant, authorities looked through his home and found two more handguns, with one of them matching the description provided by the victim.
There was also a large cache of ammunition and a high-capacity AK-47 ammo drum, authorities said.
Johnson’s bail has been set at $50,000. No other details have been released by the Sheriff’s Office.