Ellis Police Department
ELLIS — On Nov. 27 at 7:16 a.m., the Ellis Police Department received a report of a criminal threat.
The reporting person stated that they had observed posts on a Facebook page that specifically named two Ellis community members and was concerning in nature.
The Ellis Police Department was able to verify the existence of the post and began investigating the credibility of the threat. At 7:29 a.m., contact was made with one of the community members named in the Facebook post at their residence.
At 7:36 a.m., while the officer was on scene gathering information and advising the community member about the post, Nathan Harwick, 43, of Ellis, showed up at the community member’s residence armed with what the officer on scene perceived to be a long metal pipe.
Fearing for the safety of the community member and their family who were present in the house, the officer on scene drew his service weapon and began giving commands for Harwick to drop the object he was displaying in his hands. Harwick was compliant and was subsequently arrested without further incident.
Harwick was then transported to the Ellis County Jail, where he was booked on requested charges of aggravated assault x2, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and criminal threat. No injuries were reported.
The officer on-scene later contacted the other community member who was named in the Facebook post and verified that they were unharmed.
I’d like to thank the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with this case.
No other information will be released at this time.
Avery A. Smith
Chief of Police
Ellis Police Department