Oakdale Man Charged with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon

An Oakdale man has been charged with four counts of assault for allegedly pointing a loaded gun at his daughter and her fiancé, and hurting them when they struggled to get the gun from him.

Mark W. Booher, 45, was charged recently in Washington County District Court in connection with a July 16 incident.

The woman and man were cleaning Booher’s house in the 1100 block of Greene Avenue in anticipation of Booher’s mother coming home from the hospital, they told police, when Booher came in and asked what they were doing, according to the complaint. They had knocked on the door before they entered the home, but gotten no response, the complaint says.

Booher threatened his daughter, and went and retrieved his hand gun after she dumped a half bottle of vodka down the train, the complaint says.

A preliminary breath test showed that Booher had a blood alcohol concentration of .238 when police arrived at his home to question him about the alleged incident.

Both Booher and the alleged victims told police that he brought the gun to the kitchen, and then a struggle ensued to get the gun from him, the complaint says.

Booher told police the two were kicking him and that the gun was unloaded.

His daughter and fiance said the gun was loaded, and that Booher pointed it directly at them with his finger on the trigger, the complaint says.

In the struggle to get the gun, Booher allegedly grabbed the woman’s throat and bit the man’s arm, the complaint says. They eventually got the gun, emptied the bullets from it, and hid the gun under a boat, the complaint says.

They surrendered the rounds to security personnel at St. Joseph’s Hospital, according to the complaint. Police received three bullets from the hospital security officer, the complaint says.

Booher is charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon—each carrying a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and $14,000 in fines—as well as one count of domestic assault and one count of fifth-degree assault, which each carry a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail and $1,000 in fines.

He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on July 28.