An Owensboro man who was arrested in July for stopping his vehicle in the middle of the road and pointing a gun at people passing by appeared in Daviess County Circuit Court Thursday for a pretrial conference.
Ryan J. Bean, 34, was charged with possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and first-degree wanton endangerment on July 12. Police also believe the man fled from them in his vehicle the day before this incident occurred. He was additionally charged with first-degree fleeing/evading police in a motor vehicle.
At Thursday’s pretrial conference, Bean’s attorney asked Judge Joe Castlen to reschedule her client’s conference because she’d been presented with additional information about the evidence in the case.
When police were called to the scene on July 12, they discovered Bean standing in the road at the corner of East Parrish and Wing Avenues, holding a gun as cars drove past him. It took over 30 minutes for Bean to surrender the weapon and step out of his vehicle, which he’d gotten inside of after seeing officers with the Owensboro Police Department.
Upon being questioned about his possessing a gun, Bean, a convicted felon, admitted to police that there was a weapon in his driver’s side door panel. Officers found the gun in the door panel, and the weapon was seized and logged into OPD’s Evidence Collection Unit.
Bean’s attorney told Castlen that she believed Bean had been holding a BB gun — not a real handgun.
The prosecuting attorney with the Daviess County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office argued this point adamantly at Thursday’s conference, stating that the weapon logged into evidence had been a 40-caliber firearm.
“I have a lot of concerns in this case,” he told the judge. “That’s the gun he had on him.”
Bean’s defense said though officers may have found a firearm in the vehicle, that didn’t necessarily mean that had been the gun used by Bean. Since the incident, Bean has been seen by a mental health professional and has been taking his medication, his attorney said.
Worried that Bean would be released if evaluated for Drug or Mental Health Court, Castlen assured the prosecution that he wasn’t releasing Bean, but wanted him to be evaluated for both court systems as he wasn’t sure which one might serve Bean better. Bean is currently involved in three separate criminal cases.
“One case concerns me,” Castlen said. “You need drug treatment sooner or later, something long-term.”
Castlen scheduled another pretrial conference for Dec. 20 and an assessment for drug and mental health court to take place during that time.
