A man wanted for terrorizing juveniles in Florida was arrested in Eugene’s Santa Clara neighborhood Oct. 23.
The man, Steven Charles Whitney, 47, is also suspected of an armed robbery at Cowfish, 62 W. Broadway, in June, Eugene Police Department reported.
Whitney was wanted by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office in Florida after a 2022 incident in which he is accused of chasing three people through a neighborhood in Punta Gorda and firing a shotgun at them, according to a news release posted to the sheriff’s office website.
Eugene Police reported Whitney is also believed to have pointed a gun at a security guard at Cowfish in June after bringing two underage girls to the bar with him. The security guard asked the girls for identification and determined one of the IDs was fake. He confiscated the ID and Whitney got aggressive, according the EPD’s account.
The security guard told police Whitney “had a gun and pushed against him with it,” police said. The guard brandished a knife and the man grabbed the ID before leaving the bar.
When EPD went to serve a search warrant at Whitney’s home in the 2500 block of Justine Lane they brought along a SWAT team.
Police reported they found three guns, fresh marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and fake identity documents. He faces numerous local charges including being a fugitive from justice.
Whitney had been released on bond in Florida before absconding to Oregon. He faces numerous charges there including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and eluding police.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Florida man wanted on assault charges arrested in Eugene
