Key Largo man charged with gun threats

A Key Largo man accused of menacing his estranged wife and her friend with a loaded .45-caliber handgun was arrested Tuesday on two felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Robert Garrett Nelson, 30, was taken into custody by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies several hours after he reportedly threatened Bianca Nelson and Kevin Ricklick in a 3 a.m. incident at a Blackbeard Road house. Nelson also faces two counts of misdemeanor battery. He was released from the Plantation Key detention center Wednesday pending court action.

Bianca Nelson told Deputy Michael Sharp that she is separated from Robert Nelson, who has moved out of the Key Largo home they own.

Robert Nelson is accused of entering the house around 3 a.m. Tuesday, where he found Bianca and Ricklick sleeping. The defendant is accused of opening a gun safe to get a Glock semiautomatic handgun, then aiming it at Bianca and Ricklick while making repeated threats to “kill someone.”

Bianca Nelson said Robert shoved her and struck Ricklick once. Robert Nelson then “appeared to realize what he was doing,” unloaded the gun and put it down before leaving the house, she told Sharp.

Robert Nelson, a licensed boat captain working in Islamorada, was arrested without incident at a relative’s house several hours later.

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 9:19 AM with the headline "Key Largo man charged with gun threats."