A Tucson police officer who was arrested on charges of domestic violence last week pointed his gun at a family member during a gathering at his parents’ house, documents show.
Michael Sauber, a probationary employee who was hired in April 2016, is facing charges of domestic violence/aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct, all felonies.
On July 28, Sauber was in the front yard of his parents’ house when one of his family members made “an offhand humorous comment” to Sauber, after which he “pulled a handgun from his front waistband and pointed it at” the family member’s chest, according to an interim complaint filed in Pima County Justice Court.
The name of the family member and other witnesses were redacted from the complaint.
A person standing behind the family member “was afraid he would be shot, so he began to move away toward the house,” after which Sauber waved the gun around at the other people in the front yard and asked someone, “Do i need to shove that up your (expletive)?”
Sauber eventually put the gun back in his waistband after which the other family members left, the complaint said.
When police interviewed family members, they denied knowing about an incident with a gun before police mentioned a gun was involved, and were uncooperative, according to the complaint.
While police were investigating the incident, Sauber called Tucson police to say that his family members told him about the investigation. He told police that he was messing around with his family member in the front yard when he pulled his gun and pointed it at the ground in front of him, the report said.
“He claimed he did it just to show his (name redacted) the gun, but couldn’t explain why,” according to the complaint.
When officers continued to ask questions, Sauber invoked his rights.
When police spoke to the family member, the man became very angry that the incident was being investigated and gave a conflicting event of what happened. He said he was messing around with Sauber and Sauber “felt the need to pull his handgun from his waistband to make sure it was secure,” the complaint said.
Sauber has been on leave with pay as the investigations continue.