South Dakota man jailed for allegedly pointing gun at woman in Smith Township
A South Dakota man was jailed Monday morning after he allegedly threatened a woman with a gun during a domestic disturbance Sunday evening in Smith Township.
Edwin Leroy Morrey, 50, of Sioux Falls, S.D., allegedly was living with a woman in a camper at the recreational vehicle park at 273 Smith Township State Road. According to the criminal complaint, the couple had argued on their way home from a bar about 9:15 p.m., when Morrey forced the woman to get out of the car on Route 18 and walk a quarter mile before he returned to pick her up.
When they got back to the camper, Morrey allegedly grabbed the woman by the throat. When he allegedly choked her a second time, the woman told police she was unable to breathe. The complaint said Morrey then got a handgun and pointed it at himself and the woman, saying to her, “Do you want me to shoot you?” “I’m not kidding around with you,” and “I feel like killing you.”
Police said the woman grabbed the gun and unsuccessfully tried to wrestle it from Morrey. He allegedly “racked the slide on the firearm two times, ejecting two live rounds.”
Morrey then allegedly punched the woman in the face and dragged her by her hair into another part of the camper, the complaint said. The woman eventually was able to call 911.
When Smith Township police arrived, they said they found Morrey sitting in a chair, the handgun on a table next to him. Morrey allegedly admitted to police he grabbed the woman by the neck and threatened to shoot her with the gun. He told police that he didn’t intend to harm the woman “but wanted to scare her with the handgun,” the complaint said.
Morrey was charged with strangulation, terroristic threats, two counts of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment. He was arraigned Monday morning before District Judge Ethan Ward and jailed on $50,000 bond.