NORTH SMITHFIELD – A 51-year-old Woonsocket man is facing felony assault charges after a guest at the Travelers Motor Lodge told police the suspect pointed a gun at him when he tried to ask him to move his car.
Juan Gonzalez was also charged with disorderly conduct following his arrest on Sunday, April 3.
According to the arrest report, police were called to the hotel by a guest who said Gonzalez had parked in his space in the hotel parking lot, so he knocked on the door of his room to ask him to move.
“Juan responded by exiting the room with a firearm and pointing it,” the report notes.
In video surveillance footage, police reportedly saw Gonzalez answer the door holding a black object and then appearing to pull back the slide on a handgun and raising it toward the victim, who responds by putting his hands up.
Officers note that Gonzalez was previously convicted of a felony in Massachusetts and is prohibited from possessing a firearm, and the department issued an arrest warrant.
A few days later, Gonzalez was reportedly spotted by police while driving the vehicle seen in surveillance footage, and was pulled over and taken into custody. Police located a knife under the driver’s seat of the car, a small bag containing a brown powdery substance suspected to be heroin, and a small folding knife that looked like a firearm, but were unable to find a gun.
There were also three passengers in the vehicle, including two children.
Gonzalez reportedly told police that the gun in the surveillance footage, “was fake and he uses it when people knock on his door.”
Gonzalez was charged with felony assault by use of device similar in appearance to a firearm, disorderly conduct and possession of a controlled substance.
He was released on a $5,000 surety bond and has a pre-arraignment conference scheduled for June 27.
