Man used rifle to fend off parking lot fracas

A 49-year-old Elyria man who used a rifle to hold off a man he believed meant to harm two women during a convenience store parking lot dust-up in the early morning hours of Sept. 19, was charged in connection with the incident, according to an Elyria police report.

Police charged the man with aggravated menacing, a first-degree misdemeanor.

The man said he was just trying to defend the women, who were store employees and leaving a shift when the incident happened.

According to the report, an Elyria police officer was passing the D & M Mart in the 100 block of Lake Avenue at 1:38 a.m. when he heard yelling and saw a commotion in front of the store.

The officer spotted a white man pointing a rifle at a black man, and the men shouting at each other.

The officer heard a round being “racked” in the weapon.

The Elyria man told police he was trying to hold off a 29-year-old Lorain man who police charged with disorderly conduct-intoxication and aggravated menacing.

Police separated the men and learned the Lorain man threatened the female store employees who had tried to assist him after he was involved in a parking lot fight.

“Both women attempted to help … until he then started threatening the females and yelled at them he would assault them,” according to the report.

The Elyria man said he often is at the store and helps out.

He said he keeps several weapons at the store, including the rifle used in the incident, which he described as an SKS semi-automatic rifle.

“He was threatening the girls,” the Elyria man said. “His posture was I’m going to beat the crap out of you. I felt I was standing my own ground.”

Police confiscated the rifle and a loaded magazine.