Police respond to Iowa City bar fight, recover realistic toy BB gun

A Wisconsin man was arrested Saturday night after threatening a bar employee with a realistic looking toy gun.

Eight Iowa City police officers responded to Caliente, 171 Highway 1 W., at 11:26 p.m. Saturday for a report of a fight possibly involving a gun. Officers learned that 23-year-old Esteban Estrada, Jr., of Beloit, Wis., had gotten into an argument with bar staff and was thrown out. Police said Estrada confronted a bouncer with what bar staff believed was a gun.

Police said Estrada's friends got him to leave the bar and they left the area in a Chevrolet truck. Police stopped the truck a short distance later. The driver, Candelario Arteaga-Rosales, 27, of Dallas, Tex., showed signs of intoxication, failed field sobriety tests, stated he was drunk and submitted to a breath test that revealed his blood-alcohol content was .132 percent. Arteaga-Rosales was placed under arrest for drunken driving. Estrada was also taken into custody.

After searching Estrada and the vehicle, police said they recovered a C02 cartridge and .177 caliber BBs. Police said they later found a .177 caliber C02 gun, which was loaded and "extremely similar" to a run gun, on the floor of the squad car.

Estrada faces charges of carrying toys and slingshots, a violation of the Iowa City code; and going armed with intent, a class D felony.