Man accused of putting gun to woman’s head

A 33-year-old man is accused of putting a gun to a Clinton woman’s head and pulling the trigger, according to court documents.

The gun did not fire because the safety was on, the documents say.

Prosecutors charged the man, Christopher A. Nielsen, in Island County Superior Court Jan. 11 with assault in the second degree and illegal possession of a firearm.

In convicted of the charges, Nielsen could face from 87 to 116 months in prison under the standard sentencing range.

On Jan. 9, a judge set Nielsen’s bail at $75,000.

Officers with the Island County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant on a location on Humphrey Road in Clinton Jan. 1 related to stolen property. The two suspects, a man and a woman, were found inside a small, abandoned travel trailer.

The suspects claimed that Nielsen and another man had stolen the property, which they were helping to sell, the report states.

The woman said Nielsen had been at the trailer four days prior and had waved around a black, semiautomatic pistol, boasting that he is always armed, the police report states.

Nielsen accused the woman of cheating him. He put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger, warning her not to cheat him again, the report states. The woman told officers she was terrified by the incident.

The woman said she was recently at Nielsen’s apartment and saw several rifles and “a bag full of handguns,” the report states.