Standoff ends in arrest of Arnold man

A 19-year-old Arnold resident was in custody awaiting charges Thursday after being arrested on burglary charges the day before following a standoff in which he allegedly threatened to shoot officers.

Jordan Molesworth was booked into the Calaveras County Jail at 2:42 a.m. Wednesday on suspicion of burglary, public intoxication, threatening a public official and possession of burglary tools, stolen property and a dangerous weapon.
  

According to a Sheriff’s Department statement, the incident began with a report of shots on the 900 block of Highway 4 in Arnold. Calaveras County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene to see two people chasing a third person near a business.

Halting their pursuit, the pair told deputies the man they were chasing had broken into the business. As deputies searched the area, a 911 caller reported the suspect was hiding in the woods across the road from the bar, the statement said.

Upon locating Molesworth lying on the ground, deputies began to negotiate with him from behind cover. He told them he was armed and threatened to shoot them, according to the statement.

“Molesworth pointed an object at the deputies while telling them to shoot him,” the statement said.

Deputies soon realized the suspect was armed with a retractable police baton, not a firearm. After a short struggle, Molesworth was arrested, according to the statement.

Metal knuckles, handcuffs, gloves and bottles of alcohol apparently from the business were discovered on his person, according to the statement.

As of Thursday evening, Molesworth was being held at the county jail in lieu of $115,000 bail, according to the District Attorney’s office.

If charged, Molesworth was scheduled to appear in court at 1 p.m. today, according to the District Attorney’s office.