DeKalb County Sheriff’s Police Charge Homeowner With Threatening Intruders

It's a controversial criminal charge that has a lot of people scratching their heads. A Malta resident has been charged by police with threatening two individuals who were on his property.

According to a published media report,  on September 9th, DeKalb County Sheriff's deputies say they received a report that Robert Phillips, 34, of Malta, had threatened two people on his property. Roberts lives along Rt 38.  Deputies said that the nature of the alleged threat was that:

 Phillips told the two to get off his property and that he was going to go get a gun.

There was no indication as to whether a gun was displayed or whether Phillips actually retrieved a weapon

Police arrested Phillips on charges of disorderly conduct and assault. Here is a list of his charges from the DeKalb Circuit Clerk website:

Granted, we don't know all the circumstances of what transpired as police have not offered more details. The incident has a lot of people discussing if the arrest was justified.

Some questions people are asking:

• Did DeKalb County Sheriff's Police overreact?
• Is a homeowner justified in using a verbal threat against intruders on this property?
• Did the homeowner go overboard in threatening to "go get a gun"?
• Is a verbal threat considered an assault?

Share your thoughts below.