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Man threatens convenience store employee, endangers first responders

At approximately 7:12 p.m. on Saturday, an Austin police officer responded to a call of a disturbance at the 1st Stop Food Store on Barton Springs Road.
Generic photo of handcuffs

AUSTIN, Texas — A man has been arrested for making a "terroristic threat" after being accused of threatening a convenience store employee with a pistol and putting store customers and first responders in danger.

At approximately 7:12 p.m. on Saturday, an Austin police officer responded to a call of a disturbance at the 1st Stop Food Store at 1017 Barton Springs Road.

Upon arriving on scene, the officer saw an apparently intoxicated man -- later identified as 27-year-old Jonathan Douglas Hess -- walking away from the store in a very aggressive manner, yelling profanities at passing patrons.

The officer learned from the caller, a 1st Stop employee, that Hess had entered the store, acting very aggressive. He attempted to purchase several items, but his debit card was declined twice.

At that point, the line behind Hess had grown to approximately 10 people. The 1st Stop employee asked Hess to step aside so he could help the other customers, telling him he would help him after.

Hess got very upset and threw an onion across the store and pushed over a Styrofoam cooler. He asked the employee if he wanted to fight him outside.

The employee asked Hess to leave, but Hess lifted his shirt and made a grabbing motion into his waistband, saying, "I have a pistol. I will shoot you."

At this time, the other customers had run to the back of the store and were attempting to enter the freezer to hide.

The employee told the responding officer that he believed Hess did have a gun and was going to shoot everyone in the store. Hess never produced a gun, but the employee believed he had one.

Because it was believed Hess had a gun, the officer left the store to find him. He drove westbound on Barton Springs Road until he saw a small campfire near the Dogherty Art Center. The man accused of starting the fire matched the 1st Stop employee's description of Hess.

The Austin Fire Department arrived on scene and firefighters asked Hess to step away from the campfire so they could extinguish it. He refused and began to pour lighter fluid over the fire before throwing the apparently half-full lighter fluid container into the fire, causing it to grow larger.

A police officer detained Hess for putting himself and the first responders in danger. He was arrested for "terroristic threat" for threatening the 1st Stop employee, putting others in danger and being intoxicated in public.

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