Police: Coeur d’Alene man pointed BB gun at children
COEUR d’ALENE — A man accused of threatening three children with a BB gun is in jail.
Ekko V. Okey, 51, of Coeur d’Alene, is charged with aggravated assault, a felony.
The charge stems from March, when police responded to a report of an incident involving a suspicious person in the Post Falls Library parking lot, according to court records.
Three children, who were between the ages of 12 and 14, told police they were preparing to ride their bicycles home from the library when a man in a vehicle, later identified by police as Okey, called out to them and offered to give them a remote-controlled car.
Okey allegedly gave the toy to the children, court records said, then pulled out what appeared to be a black handgun and pointed it at them. The children said they fled on their bicycles.
Security footage reviewed by police showed the children interacting with Okey in the parking lot. Police also recovered the remote-controlled car, which the children reportedly ditched in the bushes after fleeing.
When contacted by phone, Okey reportedly told investigators he had offered the toy to the children because he believed it was broken and denied pointing a gun at them. Okey also said he was traveling outside Idaho.
In July, local police learned Okey had been arrested in Utah for allegedly pulling a gun on a hotel employee, according to court records. Utah police collected the weapon, which turned out to be a “realistic” BB gun without an orange tip to show it was fake.
Okey was arrested Thursday in Coeur d’Alene on two outstanding warrants. The first was issued in March, after the incident outside the Post Falls Library.
The second warrant stems from last July, when Okey faced charges of battery and destruction of a telecommunication line or asset, both misdemeanors. Okey had allegedly grabbed someone by the arm and took the person’s cellphone while the individual was calling 911.
In Idaho, aggravated assault is punishable by up to five years in prison.