Denton police responded Saturday to a report that a man was holding another man on the ground with a gun pointed at him.

Responding officers found one man lying on the ground on his stomach. A second man was walking toward the officers.

He told them that his mother-in-law called him. She was frightened, he said, because a man was acting suspiciously around her home in the 2000 block of Hollyhill Street. He said he holds a license to carry a handgun, and he took the gun with him.

He said he found the first man lying on the ground near her door. He told him to remain where he was, but the man started to get up, he said. He pointed his gun at the man and ordered him to lie still, which he did.

The man on the ground said he had been at a bar and was simply cutting through the neighborhood to go home. He said he lost one of his shoes and had wrapped his shirt around the bare foot because the street hurt the foot.

The officer recognized him as a known burglar, according to the report. He noticed the woman’s back fence gate was open. He followed footprints that seemed to have come from someone wearing just one shoe and the prints led up to the woman’s back door. There were signs of tampering on the porch.

The officer arrested the suspicious man. He found drug paraphernalia in the man’s clothing, according to the police report.

Other reports

200 block of Fry Street — Officers responded to a report that a man was beating a woman about 1:50 a.m. Sunday.

A man allowed them inside the apartment. He said he and the woman were just arguing and she was in the bedroom preparing to leave.

A 9-year-old boy ran out of the bedroom and told the officers the man was lying, according to the report. He said the man was beating his mother. When he tried to intervene, the child said, the man grabbed him and threw him to the floor. The man broke his handheld game, he said.

The officers found the woman with a bloody mouth. She said the man came home drunk and became angry and belligerent because a friend of hers was visiting the apartment. He began beating her, she said, and shoved her child down when the child tried to help her.

The officer took the man to jail on charges of assault, injury to a child and criminal mischief.

6000 block of Meadowlands, Krum area — A woman called 911 about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, saying her estranged husband assaulted her and was threatening to kill her. She was in fear for her life, she said.

Then the woman stopped talking to the dispatcher, and the officers turned on their emergency lights to arrive faster because they feared the woman had come to harm.

But when they arrived, they found the woman outside. She walked over and told them that she wanted them to stand by while she moved her belongings out of the house.

The woman’s husband and daughter told the deputies there had been no violence. The sheriff’s dispatchers told the deputies the woman had called earlier and asked for a deputy to be there when she tried to retrieve her belongings from the house. She was told deputies don’t do that kind of thing, but that she should call if violence ensued.

They took the woman to jail on a charge of making a false report to a law enforcement agency.

500 block of Oakwood Drive, Bartonville area — A man called for help about 5 a.m. Monday to report that his pickup was burning. He said his neighbor awoke him and alerted him to the fire and that the truck was fully in flames.

Deputies responded along with an area fire department. The man said he believed that a man he knows torched the truck. The victim said the man has an incorrect notion that the victim owes him money.

Roundup

From 7 a.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Monday:

• Denton police responded to 1,021 service and officer-initiated calls, including two reports of criminal mischief, two reports of criminal trespass, one case of harassment, six thefts, one case of possession of drug paraphernalia, one case of possession of marijuana, two assaults, one runaway, one burglary and one injury to a child.

• Denton County sheriff’s dispatchers handled 658 service and officer-initiated calls for the agencies they serve. A total of 136 people were booked into county jail. Deputies took reports of three burglaries, two unauthorized uses of a motor vehicle, one vehicle burglary, one arson, one case of distributing harmful material to a minor, three assaults, one theft, one sexual assault, one case of unlawfully carrying a weapon, one possession of a controlled substance and one false report.

• Sanger firefighters responded to one request to unlock a vehicle, two traffic accidents and eight medical calls.

Aubrey firefighters responded to two requests to unlock a vehicle, two traffic accidents, one request to assist a citizen, 14 medical calls and one alarm.

Krum firefighters responded to one illegal burn, one structure fire, two medical calls, one childbirth, one alarm and one suicidal person.

Lake Cities firefighters responded to six medical calls, two alarms, one illegal burn, one request to assist a citizen and three traffic accidents.

Pilot Point firefighters responded to three medical calls, one structure fire and two requests to unlock a vehicle.

Ponder firefighters responded to one structure fire and one suicidal person.

Argyle firefighters responded to one medical call, one structure fire, one water main break and one vehicle fire.

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com .

Denton County Crime Stoppers will pay a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in these or other crimes. Callers will remain anonymous. Call 1-800-388-TIPS (8477). Reach the Denton police narcotics tip line at 940-565-5801.