Scranton man charged after incident at Dave & Buster's

JEFF HORVATH, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

A Scranton man faces a felony firearm charge and other counts after an employee said he flashed a gun at the new Dave & Buster’s in Moosic.

Moosic police responded Thursday to the recently opened restaurant, bar and arcade at the Shoppes at Montage Mountain and approached Nathan Walter Jones, 26, 518 Prospect Ave., who was at the bar, police wrote in charging documents.

Jones, who claimed he didn’t have his ID and twice provided fake names to police, denied flashing a gun or having one in his possession. He also refused to allow officers to pat him down, police said.

Police told Jones he was being detained until they could confirm his identity. He resisted as police attempted to place him in handcuffs, pushing away from officers.

“Jones then began reaching for his groin,” police wrote in an affidavit. “Officers then took Jones to the ground in an attempt to place the second handcuff on him. When Jones was taken to the ground (two) fully loaded Glock 9 mm handgun magazines fell out of his back pocket.”

Jones continued to reach for his groin before police successfully handcuffed him and continued to resist arrest as they searched for a firearm. They ultimately recovered a Glock 45 9 mm pistol Jones could not legally possess as a convicted felon, police said.

The employee who witnessed Jones flash the firearm told police she was having a friendly conversation with him when he opened his jacket and showed the pistol. The woman told police that Jones said “I play GTA in real life,” a reference to the Grand Theft Auto video game series.

At the time of his arrest, Jones was wanted on an active warrant out of Lackawanna County for failure to appear. His criminal history includes a felony for having an unlicensed firearm, charging documents note.

Jones faces a felony count of prohibited firearm possession, as well as misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and providing false identification to law enforcement. He also faces a summary harassment charge.

Jones remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 6 at 11:15 a.m.