Charges filed in reported shooting; 2 Austin men accused of weapons and drug crimes

Published 8:52 am Saturday, February 3, 2018

Two of three people arrested Wednesday night after a report of shots fired appeared on Friday in Mower County District Court.

Jacob Thomas Jarvis, 20

Jacob Thomas Jarvis, 20, of Austin, was charged with gross misdemeanor being a user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm and ammunition and the petty misdemeanors of  possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Justas Aleksander Martin, 18, of Austin, was charged with felony fifth-degree drug possession.

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According to the court complaint, officers responded to a call of shots fired at 11:32 p.m. on Wednesday in the 1400 block of Second Avenue Southwest. A witness said he saw one subject wearing a red hoodie and another one wearing a black jacket and white high-top basketball shoes go running into an apartment just after the shooting. Officers found six spent 9mm bullet casings in the street. A nearby Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme had suffered bullet damage.

Officers forced their way into the apartment, rented to Jarvis, after receiving no answer at the door, according to the complaint. They allegedly smelled marijuana and found Jarvis, Martin and a third man hiding in the bathroom.

Officers allegedly saw a loaded Remington 12-gauge shotgun, shotgun shells, and a marijuana pipe.

They also allegedly saw a red hoodie, a black jacket and white high-top basketball shoes in the living room, marijuana stems on the kitchen counter and a marijuana “grow light” hanging in a nearby closet.

Justas Aleksander Martin, 18

Officers then acting with a search warrant allegedly found 22 grams of marijuana, a marijuana plant, a bag with marijuana residue, a digital scale, four marijuana pipes, a glass bong and a prescription bottle containing unknown pills.

Martin was searched and found to have 97 alprazolam pills hidden in his clothes, according to the complaint.

Officers spoke to the three about what happened that evening, according to the complaint. Martin allegedly told police the three of them were at Jarvis’ apartment smoking marijuana when he looked out the window and saw “a drug deal go down.” He said two black males and two black females were in a Toyota Camry and that someone in the Camry started shooting at a “chubby Mexican” who ran away. He allegedly said he believed the shooters were “rappers from Rochester.”

Jarvis allegedly said the shooter was a black male, possibly from the Twin Cities, with dreadlocks who exited a Toyota Corolla and fired six shots, and that Martin and the other male ran into his apartment after the shooting. He allegedly claimed he did not know who the red hoodie and the white high-top shoes found in his apartment belonged to.

The third male at first allegedly told police he was in the apartment when subjects in a dark Honda started shooting. He then allegedly changed his story and said he was outside and heard people arguing and then a black male wearing a beanie started shooting at him and Martin, causing them to run into the apartment.

Jarvis and Martin will appear in court again on Feb. 15.