Vacationer now a probationer after gun threat
A vacationer who pulled a handgun on an Islamorada motel worker in January 2016 was sentenced to a year’s probation last month.
Dale F. Noftsger, 56, of New Virginia, Iowa, entered a no-contest plea to misdemeanor counts of improper display of a firearm and preventing a victim from calling 911 in a negotiated settlement. He originally faced two felony counts and three misdemeanors.
County Judge William R. Ptomey Jr. sentenced Noftsger to two 12 months stints of probation on each count, to run concurrently with no early termination.
Noftsger, who had a concealed-weapon permit from Iowa, was ordered to write a letter of apology to the 61-year-old victim, perform 50 hours of community service, attend a firearms-safety class and pay $298 in fines and costs.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies said in their Jan. 14, 2016, report that Noftsger admitted to drinking for several hours before the 9 p.m. incident.
When Noftsger refused to answer knocks on the door of his Creekside Inn room, deputies held a safety shield in front of them when they used a pass key to open the door.
Noftsfer and his female companion were in bed. A loaded .40-caliber Glock 23 semiautomatic pistol found in the room was seized.
Noftsger told deputies he felt threatened by a man who was sitting at an outside table and talking on a cellphone. He walked over to the hotel worker and pulled out the Glock. The hotel worker described his assailant as “crazy.”
“The victim said he was going to call the police and Noftsger then reportedly used the gun to knock the phone to the ground,” a Sheriff’s Office account says.
Noftsger told deputies that a law-enforcement officer in Iowa “had warned him about the people down there.”
He was arrested after a security video showed Noftsger was “the aggressor,” deputies reported.
Kevin Wadlow: 305-440-3206
This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Vacationer now a probationer after gun threat."