CASPER — A 28-year-old Mills man pleaded not guilty in Natrona County District Court on Tuesday to pointing a “monster” black powder pistol at a couple and threatening to kill the man.
Shade Allen Meacham stood beside attorney Marty Scott in an orange jail jumpsuit and chains as Judge Kerri Johnson read the charges.
They include two counts of aggravated assault and battery, one count of taking a controlled substance or liquor into a correctional facility, and one count of possession of a controlled substance.
Mills Police allege that Meacham, who has an extensive court history, brought a man and woman with him in a truck to his Mills residence on Aug. 14. He then went inside to get a black powder pistol, came out and pointed it toward the truck while both people were inside.
The woman fled the truck, and Meacham then threatened to kill the man with the gun, a police affidavit states.
The gun discharged as Meacham put it down and began walking back toward his house, according to the affidavit.
In court Tuesday, Johnson read each charge separately and asked Meacham if he understood the charges against him.
“Yes, you honor,” Meacham said.
“How do you plead to counts one through four?” Johnson asked.
“Not guilty,” Meacham said.
The judge ordered a court file to be established for a trial date.
Scott asked the judge to consider lowering Meacham’s $100,000 cash-only bond to $50,000 cash or surety. He said his client has significant ties to the community and that family members are willing to help Meacham should he be released.
Extensive Record
Assistant District Attorney Amanda Kirby told the court Meacham has a criminal record that includes burglary, violation of a protection order, domestic battery, and other offenses.
She asked that bond continue at $100,000 cash.
“Given the criminal history,” Johnson said, “I find that bond is appropriately set.”
Both aggravated-assault charges carry a potential penalty of 10 years in prison each. Taking a controlled substance into a correctional facility is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $3,000 fine.
The possession charge carries the potential of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
No motive for Meacham’s alleged actions was noted in the Mills police affidavit.
Court records show Mills police were called to a residence in the 100 block of 4th Avenue about 5:30 p.m. Aug. 14 after receiving a report that a man had “pulled a gun at someone outside.” Another call reported a man waving a handgun, shouting and firing into the ground.
Responding officers were informed by a city employee that a silver truck was leaving the location. A neighbor at the scene told an officer he witnessed Meacham with a “monster of a handgun,” waving it around and “screaming get the (expletive) out of my truck.”
The neighbor described the weapon as having a long barrel and being “massive.”
A 30-year-old man and 25-year-old woman at the scene told police they were sitting in Meacham’s truck when he came out of the residence wielding the weapon.
The man told the officers he initially told the woman “no, he’s not going to shoot me” and then Meacham allegedly walked around the truck and pointed the gun at them both and threatened the man.
Scary Experience
“It was just something that scared the (expletive) out of me,” he told the officer. The affidavit states he asked Meacham if, “You really drove me all the way here to shoot me?”
“Shade Meacham replied, ‘(Expletive) yeah dude,’” the affidavit states.
The woman told police she was pregnant and when she saw Meacham come out of the house and point the gun into the truck, she ran from the vehicle. She said she had met Meacham maybe two or three times previously.
“He’s not all there in the head. I probably should never have got into that truck,” she said. “I’m pregnant … it’s not just my life at risk, and I’m scared.”
The woman showed police video she took of the incident.
The first video shows Meacham holding a “long barrel firearm” in his right hand and standing at the side of his silver pickup truck pointing the firearm toward the cab of the truck. A man grabs his belongings, gets out of the truck and Meacham continues to point the firearm at his head.
The affidavit states a second video shows Meacham pointing the pistol at the man and telling him, "I will (expletive) shoot you.”
“You gonna keep aiming on me?” the man asked Meacham. The video then pans to show Meacham with a firearm in his right hand pointing it directly at the man’s head, the affidavit states.
The affidavit states both the neighbor and the man threatened by Meacham said the pistol fired a round when he put down the weapon and started to walk to his home.
The neighbor told police Meacham “jumped” when the weapon went off.
'He Was Gonna Shoot Me'
The man threatened by Meacham also told officers he did not think he meant to shoot the gun when it went off, but he did feel threatened when the weapon was pointed at him and he was looking down the barrel.
“He was gonna shoot me,” the man told police.
Family members interviewed by police said Meacham shoved something behind a grandfather clock before leaving the residence. A Mills officer recovered a black powder “older style” revolver with a long barrel, and one percussion cap was missing from the cylinder, the affidavit states.
The affidavit also says the Mills officer located a spot in the roadway in front of the home that showed “some type of impact, similar to a firearm being shot into the pavement.”
Meacham was arrested at a Mills convenience store at about 10 p.m. Aug. 15.
The affidavit states that once at the Natrona County Detention Center, Meacham was put on a chair, and he told deputies he had something inside his shoe.
“They didn’t pat me down before I got in the squad car,” he told deputies. “”If they asked, I would have gave it to them.”
The officers recovered a substance that was taken to the Mills Police Department that tested “presumptive positive” for methamphetamine, the affidavit states.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
