He’s charged with pointing a gun at boys in Tacoma park, says they threw rocks at his tent

A homeless man charged with pulling a gun on three boys at a Tacoma park told police he was upset the children were throwing rocks at his tent and calling him names.

The 35-year-old pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of second-degree child assault, three counts of second-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

He was ordered held on $350,000 bail.

The confrontation took place Saturday afternoon at Oak Tree Park, 7400 S. Cedar St.

Charging papers give this account:

Three boys ages 11, 12 and 14 were riding their bikes when they decided to take a break in the park.

The children said the man came out of his tent, yelled at them not to throw rocks, called them “punks,” charged at them and pulled a gun as they dropped their bikes and ran.

When they returned home, one of the boys told his aunt a man pulled a gun on them and stole their bikes.

Unsure if they were telling the truth or pulling a prank, Angelique Hall loaded the boys and her two nieces into a car and drove to the park.

She spotted the bicycles leaning against a lamp pole and told the boys to go get them. That’s when she spotted the man emerging from a tent and running toward them with a hand behind his back.

The man pointed a handgun at them and told the group they “better leave,” records state.

Hall stepped between him and the children as the man complained about the boys’ earlier behavior.

The boys retrieved their bikes and Hall and her nieces got in the vehicle and left after the man allegedly put the gun in her face.

She called 911 as she drove away from the park.

As soon as officers approached the man, he told them, “I didn’t have a gun, it was a cell phone and a charger,” records show.

He said the boys mocked him for being homeless and called him a “drug user” so he got out of the tent to yell at them. He said he never pulled out a gun and the boys left their bikes when they fled, so he stood them up against a lamp pole.

Police found a handgun in his girlfriend’s car, where Hall told officers she’d seen him hide it as they left.

The man has a 2012 conviction for felony harassment.