http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_scharged04.1caea56.html08:04 AM PDT on Friday, June 4, 2010
By SARAH BURGE
The Press-Enterprise
A French Valley father suspected of tying up and using a stun gun on a 23-year-old man who sent his 17-year-old daughter an explicit cell phone picture was charged this week with multiple felonies.
Authorities say William Atwood Sr., 45, lured Justin Moore to his home, ordered him to strip down to his boxer shorts and assaulted him before turning him over to a sheriff's deputy.
Moore, who lives in Temecula and knows Atwood's daughter and son, later told sheriff's investigators that he had sent the photo of his genitals to several friends as a joke.
But Atwood failed to see the humor when his daughter told him about the picture in January.
An angry Atwood reported to the Sheriff's Department that Moore had sent pornography to a child, court records show. Before sheriff's officials had a chance to investigate, they received a call from Atwood the evening of Jan. 10. He said Moore came to his Avenida Armada home uninvited.
Out of concern for his family's safety, Atwood told sheriff's officials, he fired a shotgun into the air. Atwood said he told Moore to take off his clothing and bound his wrists and ankles with zip ties.
When a deputy arrived, he found Moore behaving as if he were extremely frightened. Not only did he refuse to speak, but Moore also did not open his eyes for several minutes after the deputy arrived.
Later, at the station, Moore told a rather different story.
He said Atwood had called and asked him to come over to his house to discuss the photo. When Moore arrived, he said, the electric gate opened to reveal the 6-foot-2, 350-pound Atwood waiting for him in the driveway. Atwood was a few feet away when he fired the gun, Moore told authorities.
Atwood ordered Moore out of his car and, as he was walking, fired another shot. After he was tied up, Moore said, Atwood pulled him off the ground by his feet, injuring his shoulder.
Atwood told Moore he had connections with the Pechanga tribe and was going to have him buried on the reservation, court records say.
Moore said he believed that Atwood was going to kill him.
At some point, Atwood retrieved a handgun and a stun gun. He shocked Moore on the shoulder for about 20 seconds and asked him how he liked it, court records say.
Atwood told Moore that he shocked his dogs daily and they took it better than him, court records say.
Moore said he was detained for about an hour before Atwood called the Sheriff's Department.
When sheriff's investigators looked into Moore's account of events, they discovered that he had indeed received a call from Atwood about an hour before Atwood called authorities. They also found a text message Moore had sent to a friend on his way to Atwood's house, saying he was going to discuss the pictures.
"If I don't get back, let everyone know," he joked.
Investigators searched Atwood's home, seizing zip ties, at least two stun guns and more than a dozen firearms.
The district attorney's office on Wednesday charged Atwood with making criminal threats, false imprisonment, assault with a stun gun, assault with a deadly weapon and other gun charges. As of Thursday, he had not been arrested.
Moore declined to comment Thursday, saying he hadn't heard about the charges. Efforts to reach Atwood were unsuccessful.
Prosecutors declined to charge Moore in connection with the photo for lack of evidence, said district attorney's spokesman John Hall.
Veronica Rico, the sheriff's investigator who handled the case, said that while Atwood's displeasure over the photo was understandable, he took it much too far.
"It just kind of got out of hand," Rico said
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