West Des Moines Police Say They Weren't Only Ones Carrying Guns in Encounter

A pair of off-duty  officers discovered more than a man’s identification as he lay in the grass, apparently passed out after a night of drinking in the last weekend.

When Matthew Thomas Aeschliman rolled over so police could retrieve his wallet from his back pocket, they say they discovered a .32 caliber handgun with five bullets in the chamber tucked in his waistband. 

Aeschliman, 23, of 526 S. 19th St., was arrested on public intoxication and concealed weapons charges in connection with the Aug. 4 incident. Though Iowa law recently changed to allow concealed weapons, Aeschliman didn’t have a valid permit and even if he had, he would have been in violation “as drunk as he was,” said West Des Moines Police Sgt. Jason Bryan.

Bryan said that since the law changed, it’s more common for police to encounter people who are legally carrying handguns. Aeschliman “wasn’t threatening in a general sense,” Bryan said, “but being that intoxicated, there’s potential for an extremely dangerous situation.”

Aeschliman refused a sobriety test, according to police who noted he had difficulty standing, slurred speech and bloodshot eyes.

With or without weapons, incidents like that are unnerving to other restaurant and bar patrons, as well as the 200 or so residents of the mixed-use development along West Des Moines growing Mills Civic Parkway corridor, police said.