Starboard employee in Dewey threatened with gun: Police

A verbal altercation at the Starboard Restaurant in Dewey Beach over the weekend took a dangerous turn when police said the suspect threatened an employee with a handgun.

Dewey Beach police responded to Bellevue Street and Coastal Highway shortly before 12:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release, for a report of a suicidal individual who might have been armed with a gun.

When officers arrived on scene, police said they approached a man, later identified as 22-year-old Alex Johnson of Milford, who matched the description given to dispatchers.

However, he began to pull away, according to police, and reach toward his waistband. After officers subdued him and took him into custody, police said they discovered he had a loaded .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun in the waistband of his pants.

Further investigation revealed that several minutes before officers arrived, Johnson had gotten into an argument with an employee at the Starboard Restaurant during which he raised his shirt to threaten that he was armed, the release states.

He then fled the restaurant, police said, and was confronted by law enforcement.

Johnson has been charged with carrying a concealed deadly weapon, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, menacing and resisting arrest. He has been committed to the Delaware Department of Correction on a $12,100 bond.