Police arrest man on weapon charge

-- Deepa Bharath

Police arrested a 56-year-old man who allegedly fired six rounds from

a .357 magnum revolver Monday afternoon while on a rental boat in Newport

Harbor, authorities said.

The incident caused a stir around 2:30 p.m. near the Balboa Fun Zone,

where several people watched Newport Beach police and Sheriff’s Harbor

Patrol officers arrest Robert Smith, of Fountain Valley, on suspicion of

carrying a concealed weapon. He told officers he had fired all six rounds

into the ocean, police said.

Nobody was hurt during the incident, said Newport Beach Police Lt.

Mike Jackson.

Smith was apparently intoxicated while returning a boat to Balboa Boat

Rentals in the 500 block of East Edgewater Avenue, said Sgt. Ron Peoples

of the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol.

Harbor Patrol officers responded to a call from a woman identifying

herself as Smith’s wife and warning that he was threatening to kill

himself.

“It was not a suicide attempt,” Jackson clarified. “He was only heard

talking about it.”

Smith is being held in Orange County Jail and is receiving psychiatric

treatment.