RED HOOK, NY — A Dutchess County man made a series of increasing bad decisions, according to police.
A Red Hook man was charged with menacing a police officer after an officer investigating a pizza delivery complaint found him holding what appeared to be a handgun inside a home Friday night, according to cops.
The call came in around 9:15 p.m. on Oct. 2, at the Mountain View mobile home park on Metzger Road. A patrol officer responded to a larceny complaint and met with the owner of a Rhinebeck pizza restaurant.
The restaurant owner reported that a delivery driver brought two pizzas to a resident who took the pizzas and refused to pay. The officer went to that home and asked to speak with the resident, police said.
Police identified the resident as 57-year-old Matthew P. Warnecke.
According to police, Warnecke asked the officer to come inside. Once inside the home, the officer encountered Warnecke in the living room holding what appeared to be a handgun in his right hand, the Red Hook Police Department said.
The officer drew his service weapon and ordered Warnecke to drop the gun. Warnecke initially did not comply, according to police, but dropped the weapon after multiple orders.
Warnecke was detained, and police said he was intoxicated.
Officers recovered the weapon and later determined it was a black Daisy CO2-powered BB gun, according to police.
Warnecke was charged with felony menacing a police officer; misdemeanor larceny; and misdemeanor theft of services. He was processed and released with a future court date, according to police.
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