ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — An 18-year-old was arrested after two Arapahoe High School students alerted their school resource officer that a man pulled a gun on them in front of a nearby King Soopers grocery store last week, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said.
Connor Beals is accused of threatening two teenagers with a gun while he was stopped in a car in front of King Soopers in Centennial. The 15-year-old students said Beals did not say anything but his eye contact while showing the weapon felt like they could have been shot, the arrest affidavit said. The incident happened around 12:15 p.m. on Aug. 18.
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office SRO Deputy Dan Tipton was informed of the event when the students got back on campus and one of the teenagers was able to provide Tipton with the license plate number of the vehicle the suspect was driving. Both students gave a description of Beals to the officer but said neither of them knew him.
The students were cleared and released back to class but one of them decided to walk home and refused transportation. He returned to campus to let Tipton know he saw the suspect car parked in front of a Chipotle on his way home.
Tipton and Deputy James Englert contacted Beals while he was parked in an accessible parking spot and asked him to step out of the car. While checking out the inside of the car from the outside, Tipton said he saw an open container of marijuana in the center console, the document said.
Beals refused to consent to a search after the deputies asked if he had a gun in the car that belonged to his girlfriend.
Based on probable cause, Tipton proceeded to search the car and found a loaded 9mm handgun underneath the driver’s seat. Beals was then placed in handcuffs and taken into custody.
Beals told deputies he did not point a gun at anyone but did pull up next to two teenagers to ask them about someone else he was looking for and may have miscommunicated as he was possibly shifting the gun from his lap to under the seat, the warrant said.
Beals had a previous arrest earlier this year on driving under the influence, possession of less than 4 grams of a controlled substance and concealed carry/illegal possession of a firearm. He is facing a charge of felony menacing from this incident.