Police: Man Threatens Friends With Hatchet for Leaving Him Home Alone

A Belvidere man has been accused of threatening his friends with a hatchet because they went out and left home alone, Sparta Police said.

Roger T. Edwards, 25, has been charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, both third-degree crimes, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.

According to Sgt. John-Paul Beebe, officers responded to a 911 call from an Alpine Trail home reporting a man was being restrained after threatening three others with a hatchet at about 1:30 a.m. on April 6.

Edwards had become "agitated and angry" when his three friends went out for the night and left him home alone, Beebe said. Edwards sent his friends several threatening text messages while they were out, indicating they "would be met with violence" when they returned home, Beebe said.

The three men got into a "heated argument" with Edwards when they arrived home when one of them accused the Warren County man of stealing an iPod that was missing from the house, Beebe said.

Edwards became "enraged" and reached for a hatchet he had secured in his waistband, but was overpowered by two of the others and held to the floor until police arrived, Beebe said.

Police discovered Edwards had an outstanding warrant for felony criminal mischief out of Spokane, Wash., and a $1,000 narcotics warrant out of Dover, Beebe said.

Edwards was transported to the Sussex County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail with no 10 percent option.