A Hastings man who made threats to a Hastings Police Department officer was arrested Nov. 7 and booked into the Dakota County Jail.
Nathan Ray Justice, 30, is being held on $60,000 bail for making terroristic threats with a court appearance scheduled for Nov. 20. If convicted of the charge, Justice could face five years of incarceration and a fine of up to $10,000.
The charges stem from threats Justice made in an attempt to get back a cell phone that was seized by Hastings Police when they executed a search warrant at his residence in August.
In that search, Justice’s cell phone was reportedly seized and sent to the Electronic Crimes Unit for forensic examination.
According to the criminal complaint, starting on Sept. 6, Justice allegedly repeatedly emailed and texted the Hastings Police Department Deputy Chief about getting his phone back. He was told it would take several weeks to process.
The communication from Justice continued. “Defendant’s communication throughout the month of September became increasingly profane,” the criminal complaint states. Justice allegedly called the Deputy Chief on Oct. 24 and demanded his phone back and threatened to kill the law enforcement officer.
Justice also allegedly contacted a civilian employee at the Electronic Crimes Unit on her direct line. “Defendant was profane and demanded his phone back. Defendant later left a profane voicemail,” the complaint states.
Justice also reportedly threatened the City of Hastings in Facebook posts and made numerous posts to the City of Hastings, posting this, “didn’t have to come to this” and he was “on my way.”
After the August incident that led to the cell phone seizure, Justice was charged with a felony count of threats of violence (intent to terrorize) after that incident, when a resident told police Justice allegedly pointed a handgun at him.
According to the criminal complaint of that incident, Hastings Police responded to a weapons call at a residence in the city at 7:24 p.m. on Aug. 23. A resident told police Justice, has threatened him with a gun.
The resident was reportedly washing a vehicle in his driveway when he noticed someone was yelling at him. Justice and the resident reportedly exchanged words, and Justice then entered a residence and exited with a handgun. Justice allegedly cocked the gun and pointed it at the victim. The search warrant yielded a Sig Sauer handgun and magazines with bullets. Justice was reportedly watching a dog at the residence, and the homeowner was contacted. She said she would not leave her gun magazine in the living room. Justice told investigators a verbal altercation had occurred, and that the victim had threatened to “beat” him. He denied possessing or pointing a gun.