A 60-year-old Eagan man is accused of firing a handgun inside his bedroom and telling his partner she was lucky he didn't shoot her.
Charles Allen Freeland faces two felony charges in Dakota County: intentional discharge of a firearm endangering safety and reckless discharge of a firearm.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim met with an Eagan police officer at a fire station on March 14 and reported that Freeland, her long-term romantic partner, had come home from work around 6 a.m. that morning. Around 9 a.m., he entered their bedroom, went to his bedside table, took out a handgun and said he was going to shoot the television.
The woman said she did not initially react because Freeland had previously threatened to shoot both her and one of the couple's cats. He then fired the gun, and she saw a bullet hole in the center of the dresser when she stood up. Freeland told her she was lucky he didn't shoot her, according to court records.
The woman told police that Freeland is verbally abusive, that they have had physical altercations in the past and that she rarely leaves the house anymore because of it. She said he works overnight, constantly calls her while at work to prevent her from sleeping and drinks every day, keeping beer in his car and fireball whiskey on his person, the complaint says.
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Officers responded to the residence and arrested Freeland without incident. He admitted to firing a round in the house but said it was accidental. He also said he had drank two beers that morning.
A search warrant on the residence, his truck and an RV turned up a loaded Sig Sauer handgun in his vehicle's center console, a loaded .32-caliber handgun in the bedside table, a box of 9mm ammunition and a bullet on the bedroom floor between the bed and dresser. The dresser had damage consistent with the victim's account, according to court records.
