County Man Hit With Weapons Charge

A Sequoyah County man was charged Sept. 20 with possession of a firearm after former felony conviction, court records show.

Justin Dean Austin, 42, who was convicted of second-degree burglary in 1996, faces up to 10 years in prison on the charge. His case is set for the felony disposition docket at 9 a.m. Dec. 2. His bond was set at $10,000.

Around 8 p.m. Sept. 19, a Sequoyah County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to a Muldrow residence in reference to a verbal altercation that had occurred and where shots were reportedly fired.

When he arrived at the scene, the deputy met with a female, who informed him that they had stopped to confront their neighbor, later identified as Austin, about leaving their motorcycle and SUV partially blocking the roadway. She said that while they were speaking with Austin, his friend shot a gun in their direction and when they took off toward their house, the friend kept shooting in their direction.

The reporting female further informed deputies that her husband began walking toward Austin’s residence to confront him about the shooting while she called 911.

Two deputies then drove to Austin’s residence where they found the suspect in a small box trailer. 

Austin told the officers that he was speaking with his neighbor about the parking issue when a friend of his, whose name he could not remember, had grabbed some fireworks and shot them off. Austin admitted to having a .40-cal. pistol in his trailer

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Austin was placed under arrest because of the altercation. He asked the deputies to close and lock his trailer with the padlock from the outside. A look inside the trailer revealed a red blanket covering a portion of the front corner of the trailer. A deputy spotted a wood stock of a rifle leaned against the wall. He moved the blanket and discovered a Remington Model 514 rifle. He also found several buckets with marijuana growing inside.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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