Manchester Circle Woman Threatened With Replica Gun

A domestic disturbance involving a convicted felon allegedly holding a gun to a woman’s head in a Manchester Circle home ended without harm after 30 tense minutes early Wednesday, said.

The gun was a "starter’s pistol" that fires blanks, and a bulletproof vest was also seized from the home, police said.

At about 2 a.m., police surrounded a single-family cape at 24 Manchester Circle. Jermaine Clyde Joseph, 30, came to the front door and surrendered at 2:30 a.m., police said.

Police were in contact with the victim by telephone during the incident, police said.

Joseph was arraigned Wednesday in Hartford Superior Court on multiple charges, including threatening, disorderly conduct, use of a facsimile firearm and criminal possession of body armor, police said. Bail was set at $100,000.

A 4-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl were sleeping upstairs at the time of the incident. leading to two felony counts of risk of injury, police said.

A search of the home revealed a black Walther P22S replica gun, a Spectra body armor vest, handcuffs and a leather holster, police said.

Joseph, who was living at the residence, was charged with first-degree assault in 2001 and was sentenced to one year in jail for violating probation in 2006, according to police and court records.

The victim, 23, told police she was not aware Joseph kept a gun at the house. The gun and body armor were found in a downstairs bedroom closet, police said. Joseph told police the body armor was for a former security job.

The victim told police an argument began shortly after Joseph came home from night school at about 1 a.m. Joseph allegedly removed a gun from a pants pocket, inserted a clip, and pointed it at her head, police said.

“He looked crazy and I couldn’t talk any sense to him,” the victim said, according to a police report.

After Joseph apparently calmed down, she called her mother, whose husband then called police, reporting a gun was involved, police said.

Joseph denied pointing a gun at his girlfriend, who told police the couple was in the midst of a breakup. Joseph told police his girlfriend was angry because of a woman he talks with online, and that she slapped him.

Joseph is being held at the Weston Street jail in Hartford and is scheduled back in court June 14.

The incident and a family violence report was given to the state Department of Children and Families, police said.