Erratic Driving, Loud Argument Leads Man to Draw Gun, Police Say

Two Waukesha men were charged with disorderly conduct after an argument over one of the man’s poor driving habits led to a third Waukesha man holding up a handgun to get them to leave, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

David C. Alaniz, 29, and Gest G. Wangsness, 27, face up to 90 days in jail and $1,000 in fines if convicted of the misdemeanor charge.

The third man contacted police shortly after midnight Sept. 30 in the 1200 block of Fleetfoot Drive after he pulled out the gun to get the Alaniz and Wangsness to leave the area during a bonfire, according to the complaint.

The man told police the argument started after Alaniz was driving about 120 mph on Fleetfoot Drive. The man shouted at Alaniz for 30 seconds before Alaniz left the area, he told police, according to the complaint.

About 10 to 15 minutes later, Alaniz returned, yelling at the man and accusing him of driving erratically in the mornings. The man told police he felt threatened when Alaniz kept getting  in his face in an aggressive manner, so he punched Alaniz in the face, according to the complaint.

Two hours later, Alaniz and three other men returned to the bonfire accusing the man of “jumping” Alaniz. The four men “were so loud and boisterous that (the alleged victim’s) neighbor woke up,” the complaint states.

Outnumbered four to one, the man told police he held up his handgun and told them to leave, according to the complaint. The man’s fiancée also confirmed the man’s account.

Alaniz told police he wanted to work out their differences and the man just punched him “out of the blue,” the complaint states. He returned to the bonfire with three other men so he didn’t get punched again.

Wangsness told plice Alaniz was drunk and was difficult to understand, but Alaniz told him “some guy had come up to his car and started yelling at him and then struck him in the face,” the complaint states.

Wangsness told an officer the man was swinging a gun between him and Alaniz, however, police noted that Wangsness would have been unable to see a gun or an altercation from the location where he told police he was standing, according to the complaint.